LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON.  N.  J. 


PRESENTED  BY 


Dr,  Benjamin  Gemmell 

BT  761  . R5  1923 

Ridout,  George  W.  1870-1954 

Amazing  grace 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2019  with  funding  from 
Princeton  Theological  Seminary  Library 


https://archive.org/details/amazinggracemessOOrido 


Amazing  Grace 

MESSAGES  ON  THE  GRACE  OF  GOD  AS  MANIFESTED 
IN  THE  SOUL’S  SALVATION  AND 
ENRICHMENT 


N/ 

.  JAN 


\ 


By 


GEORGE  WHITEFIELD  RIDOUT,  D.D., 

of  Asbury  College 
Author  of  “  The  Cross  and  Flag ' 


.ft 


New  York  Chicago 

Fleming  H.  Re  veil  Company 

London  and  Edinburgh 


Copyright,  1923,  by 

FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  North  Wabash  Ave. 
London:  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh :  75  Princes  Street 


Preface 


I  HAD  a  most  singular  experience  once  with  the 
subject  Amazing  Grace.  I  hope  I  shall  not  be 
thought  forward  or  lacking  in  modesty  if  I 
tell  the  story.  I  was  riding  in  a  train  in  the 
West,  one  day, — I  think  I  was  going  through 
Kansas — when  I  was  moved  to  write  a  short  article 
on  the  subject :  Amazing  Grace.  I  cannot  now  re¬ 
call  what  I  said  in  that  article.  I  sent  it  on  to  the 
New  York  Christian  Advocate ,  and  it  was  pub¬ 
lished.  Some  months  afterwards  I  received  a  let¬ 
ter  from  a  lady  in  Milan,  Italy,  telling  of  the  way 
the  Lord  had  blessed  her  through  reading  that  ar¬ 
ticle.  The  letter  I  kept,  it  reads  as  follows : 

“  May  a  stranger  thank  you  for  your  living,  in¬ 
spired  article  in  The  Christian  Advocate. 

“  For  years  I  have  known  much  of  that  ‘  amaz¬ 
ing  grace/  It  has  enabled  me  to  sing  my  way 
through  many  a  tunnel.  Over  and  over,  by  the 
dying  beds  of  my  dearest  ones,  and  even  by  their 
graves,  it  has  filled  me  with  the  very  joy  of  heaven. 
Loneliness,  loss  of  property,  exile  from  my  own 
country  and  the  friends  of  a  life-time,  the  anxieties 
which  come  with  motherhood,  the  temptations  to 
worry  about  the  future — in  all  these  things  it  has 
been  more  than  conqueror  and  my  soul  has  winged 

5 


6 


PREFACE 


its  flight  above  the  clouds  and  exulted  in  the  light 
of  His  countenance.  But  for  some  weeks  past,  un¬ 
der  strange  and  very  trying  conditions,  I  had  gotten 
into  the  dark,  and  had  begun  to  cherish  thoughts 
and  feelings  which  I  knew  could  not  be  pleasing  to 
God,  and  yet  which  seemed  to  entangle  me  in  a  web 
of  fine-spun  steel,  in  which  I  seemed  to  have  little 
heart  to  struggle  or  even  pray — a  veritable  snare  of 
the  enemy.  Yesterday  morning  I  was  reading  your 
article  aloud  to  a  member  of  my  family,  when  I 
came  to  the  verse  from  4  Gospel  Power/  I  was  im¬ 
mediately  carried  back  to  an  old-fashioned  camp 
meeting.  I  could  see  the  flare  of  the  oil  lamps  on 
hundreds  of  faces,  the  rough  platform,  the  straw 
in  and  around  the  simple  altar  rail,  and  I  stopped 
in  my  reading  to  recall  the  old  tune,  not  heard  in 
many,  many  years.  It  came  back  to  me  immedi¬ 
ately — that  music  by  no  means  classical  or  artistic, 
but  with  a  lilt,  a  holy  charm,  a  thrill  of  hope  and 
victory  in  it,  the  vehicle — that  homely  tune — of 
God’s  *  Promise  of  Love  Triumphant/ 

“  I  sung  it  over  and  over,  went  about  my  work 
still  singing  it,  for  as  I  sang  the  grace  of  God  again 
flowed  into  my  life,  restoring  my  soul.  To-day  I 
am  again  proving  yet,  as  often  of  old : 

“  *  With  Thee  conversing  we  forget 
All  time  and  toil  and  care. 

Labour  is  rest  and  pain  is  sweet , 

If  Thou ,  my  God ,  art  there / 


“  You  will  pardon  this  long  personal  letter,  I  am 
sure.  It  seems  to  me  that  no  matter  how  useful 
and  honored  and  busy  a  Christian  man  may  be,  a 
word  of  gratitude  for  help  rendered  cannot  be  un- 


PREFACE 


7 


acceptable,  for  we  so  often  sow  in  tears  and  never 
know  here  if  someone  has  gathered  food  or  sweet¬ 
ness  where  we  toiled  with  weary  feet.  So  I  ven¬ 
ture  to  thank  you  from  my  heart.  The  testimony 
itself  is  not  confidential,  but  my  name  I  would  have 
you  please  consider  as  a  confidence. 

“  Yours  cordially, 

(t  >f 


The  hymn  Amazing  Grace  is  a  great  favorite  of 
mine  and  I  have  chosen  it  as  the  title  of  my  book 
in  which  I  aim  to  set  forth  some  of  the  wonders 
of  Grace  and  attempt  to  write  upon  some  aspects 
of  the  deeper  things  of  God.  G.  W.  R. 

Asbury  College,  Wilmore,  Kentucky. 


Contents 


I.  Amazing  Grace  .  .  .  .11 

II.  Wonders  of  Converting  Grace  .  24 

III.  The  Wonders  of  Faith  and  Prayer.  34 

IV.  Sin  and  Salvation  .  .  .  .45 

V.  God's  Skies  Are  Full  of  Pente- 


costs . 58 

VI.  Double  Portion  of  the  Spirit  .  .  68 

VII.  “  Deeper  Yet  !  ”  .  .  .  .79 

VIII.  The  Beauty  of  Holiness  .  .  .90 

IX.  Spiritual  Experiences  .  .  .99 

X.  Preaching  the  Gospel  .  .  .  107 


XI.  The  New  Theology  and  the  Old 

Time  Religion  .  .  .  .120 

XII.  Perfect  Love . 130 

XIII.  If  I  Lose  My  Faith  .  .  ,  .139 


9 


* 


(V 


r 


I 


AMAZING  GRACE 

Amazing  grace !  how  sweet  the  sound , 

That  saved  a  wretch  like  me! 

I  once  was  lost ,  but  now  am  found, 

Was  blind ,  but  now  I  sec. 

’Twas  grace  that  taught  my  heart  to  fear , 

And  grace  my  fears  relieved; 

How  precious  did  that  grace  appear 
The  hour  I  first  believed! 

Through  many  dangers,  toils,  and  snares 
I  have  already  come; 

*T is  grace  hath  brought  me  safe  thus  far , 

And  grace  will  lead  me  home. 

The  Lord  has  promised  good  to  me, 

His  word  my  hope  secures; 

He  will  my  shield  and  portion  be 
As  long  as  life  endures. 

A  BRITISH  writer  has  well  said:  “  There  are 
two  supreme  tests  of  any  interpretation  of 
the  Cross;  one  is,  does  it  issue  in  a  life  of 
active  service  to  our  fellow-men,  which  we  owe  as 
redeemed  men  and  women?  Has  our  doctrine  an 
ethical  impulse  and  control  ?  The  other  test  is : 
does  it  evoke  adoring"  gratitude  to  Cod?  Does  it 
leave  us  ‘  lost  in  wonder,  love  and  praise?  ’  ” 
Addison  touched  this  note  when  he  sang: 

11 


12 


AMAZING  GRACE 


“  When  all  Thy  mercies,  O  My  God, 

My  rising  soul  surveys, 

Transported  with  the  view,  I’m  lost 
In  wonder,  love,  and  praise.” 

Then  Charles  Wesley  echoed  it.  His  hymn  of 
adoration  runs  out  into  the  prayer : 


“Finish  then  Thy  new  creation; 

Pure  and  spotless  let  us  be ; 

Let  us  see  Thy  great  salvation. 
Perfectly  restored  in  Thee, 
Changed  from  glory  into  glory, 

Till  in  heaven  we  take  our  place, 
Till  we  cast  our  crowns  before  Thee, 
Lost  in  wonder,  love,  and  praise.” 


When  preaching  in  France,  one  Sabbath  morn¬ 
ing,  my  appointments  took  me  out  of  Chaumont 
down  through  a  lovely  valley  country  and  then 
through  Clairvaux  (beautiful  valley)  where  in  the 
long  ago  that  man  of  God,  Saint  Bernard,  lived  and 
preached  and  prayed  and  sang  his  hymns  of  adora¬ 
tion  and  praise. 

It  is  said  of  Bernard  that  he  devoted  himself  to 
study  and  exposition  of  the  Bible.  In  the  solitude 
of  the  woods  and  fields,  in  prayer  and  contempla¬ 
tion  he  sought  communion  with  God.  The  chief 
object  of  his  contemplations  was  the  being  and  per¬ 
fections  of  God  and  in  dwelling  on  these  his  soul 
rose  to  ecstasy,  and  often  in  preaching  his  impetu¬ 
osity  of  spirit  and  his  ardour  bore  all  before  him. 


AMAZING  GRACE 


13 


Once  he  said,  “  Who  will  give  me  before  I  die  to 
see  the  Church  as  it  was  in  the  ancient  days ;  when 
the  apostles  cast  their  nets  to  catch  souls,  not  silver 
and  gold.” 

In  one  of  these  seasons  of  holy  joy,  Bernard 
wrote : 


“Jesus,  the  very  thought  of  Thee 
With  sweetness  fills  my  breast; 

But  sweeter  far  Thy  face  to  see. 

And  in  Thy  presence  rest. 

“Jesus,  our  only  joy  be  Thou, 

As  Thou  our  prize  will  be; 

Jesus,  be  Thou  our  glory  now, 

And  through  eternity.” 

While  in  the  South,  I  was  struck  with  the  un¬ 
usually  earnest  way  they  sing  the  old  hymn. 
Amazing  Grace.  When  all  other  singing  would 
drag,  announce  Amazing  Grace  and  new  life  would 
take  hold  of  the  congregation.  I  shall  tell  in  this 
chapter  the  story  of  Rev.  John  Newton  who  wrote 
this  wonderful  hymn.  He  indeed  had  been,  as  he 
describes  it,  a  “  wretch  ”  of  a  sinner  and  trans- 
gressor.  John  Newton’s  mother  had  prayed  from 
his  infancy  that  he  might  become  a  preacher  of  the 
Gospel  but  she  died  without  seeing  her  prayers  an¬ 
swered.  He  had  little  schooling  and  at  eleven  years 
of  age  he  went  to  sea  with  his  father  with  whom 
he  sailed  six  years.  Then  he  joined  the  navy  and 
became  a  midshipman.  He  plunged  into  infidelity 


14 


AMAZING  GRACE 


and  became  a  reckless  sinner.  He  went  from  bad 
to  worse  until  finally  he  found  himself  in  the 
service  of  a  slave-dealer  and  became  a  slave  himself 
to  his  brutal  master. 

Once  in  a  drunken  bout  he  fell  into  the  sea.  It 
was  night,  the  tide  was  running  strong,  and  he  was 
in  grave  danger  of  drowning,  but  one  of  the  sailors 
caught  him  by  the  neck  and  he  was  dragged  on  the 
deck.  Among  the  books  aboard  his  ship  was 
Thomas  Kempis’  “  Imitation  of  Christ.”  The 
reading  of  this  book  reminded  him  of  his  lost  con¬ 
dition.  One  night  at  the  wheel  his  fast  life  rose 
up  before  him  and  he  was  led  to  cry :  “  My 
mother’s  God,  the  God  of  mercy,  have  mercy  on 
me.”  After  his  conversion  he  left  the  sea  and  be¬ 
came  a  tide  surveyor  at  Liverpool.  He  became  a 
diligent  student  and  obtained  an  excellent  knowl¬ 
edge  of  Hebrew,  Greek,  and  Latin  and  found  in¬ 
creasing  delight  in  the  Scriptures  and  felt  a  great 
desire  to  preach  the  Gospel.  He  says :  “  I  thought 
I  was  above  most  living,  a  fit  person  to  proclaim 
that  faithful  saying  that  Jesus  Christ  came  into 
the  world  to  save  the  chief  of  sinners,  and  as  my 
life  had  been  full  of  remarkable  turns,  I  was  in 
hopes  that  sooner  or  later  he  might  call  me  to  his 
service.”  Eventually  he  became  an  ordained  min¬ 
ister  of  the  Established  Church,  John  Wesley  and 
George  Whitefield  being  two  of  his  chief  sponsors. 
Besides  the  wonderful  hymn  Amazing  Grace,  John 
Newton  also  wrote  this  charming  hymn : 


AMAZING  GRACE 


15 


“  How  sweet  the  name  of  Jesus  sounds 
In  a  believer’s  ear 

It  soothes  his  sorrows,  heals  his  wounds, 

And  drives  away  his  fear. 

“  Dear  name !  the  Rock  on  which  I  build, 

My  shield,  and  hiding  place, 

My  never  failing  treasury  filled 
With  boundless  stores  of  grace ! 

“  Jesus!  my  Shepherd,  Brother,  Friend, 

My  Prophet,  Priest  and  King; 

My  Lord,  my  Life,  my  Way,  my  End, 

Accept  the  praise  I  bring. 

“  Weak  is  the  effort  of  my  heart, 

And  cold  my  warmest  thought, 

But  when  I  see  Thee  as  Thou  art. 

I’ll  praise  Thee  as  I  ought. 

/ 

“  Till  then  I  would  thy  love  proclaim 
With  every  fleeting  breath; 

And  may  the  music  of  thy  name 
Refresh  my  soul  in  death ! 

newton's  ring  dream 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  dreams  on  record  is 
the  following  which  Newton  had  when  he  was  suf¬ 
fering  conviction  for  sin.  It  sets  forth  the  value 
of  the  soul  in  language  most  unusual  and  extraordi¬ 
nary.  The  dream  Newton  tells  as  follows  : 

“  The  dream  is  certain  and  the  interpretation 
thereof  sure.  I  am  sure  I  dreamed  to  the  following 
effect  and  I  cannot  doubt,  from  what  I  have  seen 
since,  that  it  had  a  direct  and  easy  application  to 


16 


AMAZING  GRACE 


my  own  circumstances,  to  the  dangers  in  which  I 
was  about  to  plunge  myself  and  to  the  unmerited 
deliverance  and  mercy  which  God  would  be  pleased 
to  afford  me  in  the  time  of  my  distress. 

“  The  scene  presented  to  my  imagination  was  the 
harbor  of  Venice,  where  we  had  lately  been.  I 
thought  it  was  night,  and  my  watch  upon  the  deck ; 
and  that  as  I  was  walking  to  and  fro  by  myself,  a 
person  came  to  me,  and  brought  me  a  ring,  with 
an  express  charge  to  keep  it,  carefully;  assuring 
me,  that  while  I  preserved  that  ring  I  should  be 
happy  and  successful ;  but  if  I  lost  or  parted  with  it, 
I  must  expect  nothing  but  trouble  and  misery.  I 
accepted  the  present  and  the  terms  willingly,  not  in 
the  least  doubting  my  own  care  to  preserve  it,  and 
highly  satisfied  to  have  my  happiness  in  my  own 
keeping.  I  was  engaged  in  these  thoughts,  when  a 
second  person  came  to  me,  and  observing  the  ring 
on  my  finger,  took  occasion  to  ask  me  some  ques¬ 
tions  concerning  it.  I  readily  told  him  its  virtues ; 
and  his  answer  expressed  a  surprise  at  my  weak¬ 
ness,  in  expecting  such  effects  from  a  ring.  I  think 
he  reasoned  with  me  some  time  upon  the  impossi¬ 
bilities  of  the  thing;  and  at  length  urged  me,  in 
direct  terms,  to  throw  it  away.  At  first  I  was 
shocked  at  the  proposal;  but  his  insinuations  pre¬ 
vailed.  I  began  to  reason  and  doubt  myself;  and 
at  last  plucked  it  off  my  finger,  and  dropped  it  over 
the  ship’s  side  into  the  water;  which  it  had  not 
sooner  touched,  than  I  saw,  the  same  instant,  a  ter- 


AMAZING  GRACE 


17 


rible  fire  burst  out  from  a  range  of  mountains, 
which  appeared  at  some  distance  behind  the  city  of 
Venice.  I  saw  the  hills  as  distinct  as  if  awake,  and 
they  were  all  in  flames.  I  perceived,  too  late,  my 
folly;  and  my  tempter,  with  an  air  of  insult,  in¬ 
formed  me,  that  all  the  mercy  God  had  in  reserve 
for  me  was  comprised  in  the  ring  which  I  had  wil¬ 
fully  thrown  away. 

“  I  understood  that  I  must  now  go  with  him  to 
the  burning  mountains,  and  that  all  the  flames  I 
saw  were  kindled  upon  my  account.  I  trembled, 
and  was  in  great  agony ;  so  it  was  surprising  I  did 
not  then  awake;  but  my  dream  continued;  and 
when  I  thought  myself  upon  the  point  of  a  con¬ 
strained  departure,  and  stood,  self -condemned, 
without  plea  or  hope,  suddenly  either  a  third  per¬ 
son,  or  the  same  who  had  brought  the  ring  at  first, 
came  to  me,  and  demanded  the  cause  of  my  grief. 
I  told  him  the  plain  case,  confessing  that  I  had 
ruined  myself  wilfully,  deserved  no  pity.  He 
blamed  my  rashness,  and  asked  if  I  should  be  wiser 
supposing  I  had  the  ring  again?  I  could  hardly 
answer  this :  for  I  thought  it  was  gone  beyond  re¬ 
call.  I  believe,  indeed,  I  had  not  time  to  answer, 
before  I  saw  this  unexpected  friend  go  down  under 
the  water,  just  in  the  spot  where  I  had  dropped  it ; 
and  he  soon  returned,  bringing  the  ring  with  him. 
The  moment  he  came  on  board,  the  flames  in  the 
mountains  were  extinguished,  and  my  seducer  left 
me.  Then  was  *  the  prey  taken  from  the  hand  of 


18 


AMAZING  GRACE 


the  mighty,  and  the  lawful  captive  delivered/  My 
fears  were  at  an  end,  and  with  joy  and  gratitude 
I  approached  my  kind  deliverer  to  receive  the  ring 
again ;  but  he  refused  to  return  it,  and  spoke  to  this 
effect:  ‘If  you  should  be  intrusted  with  the  ring 
again,  you  would  very  soon  bring  yourself  into  the 
same  distress :  you  are  not  able  to  keep  it ;  but  I  will 
preserve  it  for  you  and  whenever  it  is  needful,  will 
produce  it  in  your  behalf/ 

“  Upon  this  I  awoke  in  a  state  of  mind  not  easy 
to  be  described:  I  could  hardly  eat,  or  sleep,  or 
transact  my  necessary  business,  for  two  or  three 
days.  But  the  impression  soon  wore  off,  and  in 
time  I  totally  forgot  it;  and  I  think  it  hardly  oc¬ 
curred  to  my  mind  again  till  several  years  after¬ 
ward.  It  will  appear,  in  the  course  of  these 
papers,  that  a  time  came  when  I  found  myself  in 
circumstances  very  nearly  resembling  those  sug¬ 
gested  by  this  extraordinary  dream,  when  I  stood 
helpless  upon  the  brink  of  an  awful  eternity;  and 
I  doubt  not  that  had  the  eyes  of  my  mind  been  then 
opened,  I  should  have  seen  my  grand  enemy,  who 
had  seduced  me  wilfully  to  renounce  and  cast  away 
my  religious  profession,  and  to  involve  myself  in 
most  complicated  crimes,  pleased  with  my  agonies, 
and  waiting  for  a  permission  to  seize  and  bear  my 
soul  away  to  his  place  of  torment.  I  should,  per¬ 
haps  have  seen  likewise,  that  Jesus,  whom  I  had 
persecuted  and  defied,  rebuking  the  adversary, 
challenging  me  for  His  own,  as  a  brand  plucked 


AMAZING  GRACE 


19 


from  the  fire,  and  saying,  ‘  Deliver  him  from  going 
down  to  the  pit:  I  have  found  a  ransom/ 

“  However,  though  I  saw  not  these  things  I 
found  the  benefit:  I  obtained  mercy.  The  Lord 
answered  for  me  in  the  day  of  my  distress;  and 
blessed  be  His  name,  He  who  restored  the  ring  (or 
what  was  signified  by  it),  vouchsafes  to  keep  it. 
Oh  what  an  unspeakable  comfort  is  this,  that  I  am 
not  in  my  own  keeping!  ‘The  Lord  is  my  Shep¬ 
herd/  I  have  been  enabled  to  trust  my  all  in  His 
hands ;  and  I  know  in  whom  I  have  believed.  Satan 
still  desires  me,  that  he  may  sift  me  as  wheat,  but 
my  Saviour  has  prayed  for  me,  that  my  faith  may 
not  fail.  Here  is  my  security,  and  power;  a  bul¬ 
wark  against  which  the  gates  of  hell  cannot  prevail. 
But  for  this  many  a  time  and  often  (if  possible)  I 
should  have  ruined  myself  since  my  first  deliver¬ 
ance;  nay,  I  should  fall,  and  stumble,  and  perish 
still,  after  all  that  the  Lord  has  done  for  me,  if  His 
faithfulness  were  not  engaged  in  my  behalf,  to  be 
my  sun  and  shield  even  unto  death.  ‘  Bless  the 
Lord,  O  my  soul/  ” 

Amazing  Grace  is  seen  in  God's  pardoning  love 
and  power .  Well  has  Dr.  Owen,  the  eminent 
preacher  of  olden  times,  written: 

“If  there  be  any  pardon  with  God,  it  is  such  as 
becomes  Him  to  give.  When  He  pardons  He  will 
abundantly  pardon.  Go  with  your  half- forgive¬ 
ness,  limited  conditional  pardons,  with  reserve  and 
limitations,  unto  the  sons  of  men:  it  may  be,  it 


20 


AMAZING  GRACE 


may  become  them,  it  is  like  themselves.  That  of 
God  is  absolute  and  perfect,  before  which  our  sins 
are  as  a  cloud  before  the  east  wind  and  the  rising 
sun.  Hence  He  is  said  to  do  this  work  with  His 
whole  heart  and  with  His  whole  soul.  ...  We  are 
apt  to  think  we  are  very  willing  to  have  forgive¬ 
ness,  but  that  God  is  unwilling  to  bestow  it;  and 
that  because  He  seems  to  be  a  loser  by  it,  and  to 
forego  the  glory  of  inflicting  punishment  for  our 
sins;  which  of  all  things  we  suppose  He  is  most 
loath  to  part  withal.  And  this  is  the  very  nature 
of  unbelief.  But  indeed  things  are  quite  other¬ 
wise.  He  hath  in  this  matter,  through  the  Lord 
Christ,  ordered  all  things  in  His  dealings  with  sin¬ 
ners  to  the  praise  of  the  glory  of  His  grace.  His 
design  in  the  whole  mystery  of  the  Gospel  is  to 
make  His  grace  glorious ,  or  to  exalt  pardoning 
mercy.” 

Amazing  Grace,  furthermore,  is  seen  in  the 
work  of  sanctification.  John  Fletcher  has  defined 
entire  sanctification  thus :  “  It  is  the  depth  of  evan¬ 
gelical  repentance,  the  full  assurance  of  faith,  and 
the  pure  love  of  God  (and  man)  shed  abroad  in  a 
faithful  believer’s  heart  by  the  Holy  Ghost  given 
unto  him  to  cleanse  him  and  to  keep  him  clean  from 
all  the  filthiness  of  flesh  and  spirit;  to  enable  him  to 
fulfill  the  law  of  Christ  according  to  the  talents  he 
is  entrusted  with  and  the  circumstances  in  which  he 
is  placed  in  this  world.” 

Dr.  Daniel  Steele,  who  was  the  John  Fletcher 


AMAZING  GRACE 


21 


of  the  Methodist  Holiness  Movement,  tells  of  the 
exuberance  of  joy  that  was  his  when  he  entered 
this  rich  and  deep  experience  of  sanctification, 
after  coming  to  see  his  need  of  it  under  the  min¬ 
istry  of  A.  B.  Earle,  the  Spirit-filled  Baptist  evan¬ 
gelist.  Dr.  Steele  says :  “  But  language  is  wholly 
inadequate  to  express  a  manifestation  of  Christ 
which  did  not  formulate  itself  in  words,  but  in  the 
mighty,  overwhelming  pulsations  of  love.  The  joy 
for  weeks  was  unspeakable.  .  .  . 

“  The  ecstasy  has  subsided  into  a  delicious  and 
unruffled  peace,  rising  into  ecstasy  only  in  acts  of 
especial  devotion.  I  find  no  fear  of  man  nor  of 
death.  I  can  no  longer  accuse  myself  of  unbelief, 
the  root  of  all  sin.  What  may  be  in  me,  below  the 
gaze  of  consciousness,  I  do  not  know.  I  must 
wait  till  occasions  shall  put  me  to  the  test.  It 
would  not  be  wise  for  me  to  assert  that  all  sinful 
anger — there  is  a  righteous  anger — is  taken  away, 
till  I  have  passed  through  a  college  rebellion,  or 
something  equally  provoking. 

“  If  sin  consists  only  in  active  energies,  I  am  not 
conscious  of  such  dwelling  within  me.  If  sin  con¬ 
sists  in  a  state,  as  some  assert,  I  infer  that  I  am 
not  in  such  a  state,  from  the  absence  of  sinful 
energies  flowing  therefrom,  and  more  especially 
from  the  indwelling  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  I  have 
had  no  other  direct  witness  than  that  attesting 
Christ’s  love  to  me 

“  My  experience,”  he  writes,  after  enjoying  this 


22 


i 


AMAZING  GRACE 


blessing  several  months,  “  of  the  joy  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  grows  richer  and  richer.  Every  day  I  seek 
a  place  for  secret  praise.  I  am  filled  and  flooded 
with  a  sense  of  the  divine  love.  How  delightful 
any  kind  of  service  for  the  blessed  Master!  How 
sweet  to  feel  His  circling  arms  around  one  on 
every  side — so  that  no  calamity  can  possibly  befall 
the  soul !  ” 

One  of  the  older  divines,  preaching  on  John 
3:16,  used  the  following  divisions:  (1)  The 
Lake;  (2)  The  River;  (3)  The  Pitcher;  (4)  The 
Draught. 

The  Lake — God  so  loved  the  world ; 

The  River — That  he  gave  his  only  begotten  Son ; 

The  Pitcher — That  whosoever  believeth  on  him; 

The  Draught — Should  have  everlasting  life. 

The  story  is  told  of  an  untutored  preacher  from 
the  backwoods  somewhere  who  was  being  ex¬ 
amined  in  the  preacher’s  course  of  study  of 
long  ago.  Among  the  questions  asked  him  was, 
“  Which  is  the  biggest  river  in  the  country  ?  ” 
His  reply  was :  “  The  River  of  Salvation.”  The 
fellow  evidently  had  a  better  knowledge  of  spir¬ 
itual  geography  than  he  did  of  the  physical,  be¬ 
cause  he  had  it  right  when  touching  salvation. 
Ezekiel  saw  this  river  and  describes  it  in  chapter 
forty-seven.  He  sees  it  rise  till  it  reaches  the 
ankles,  the  knees,  then  the  loins,  and  it  becomes  a 
river  to  swim  in;  and  thank  God,  wherever  this 
river  flows  it  brings  cleansing  and  life  and  plenty. 


AMAZING  GRACE 


23 


Phoebe  Palmer  saw  it  when  she  sang: 

“  Amazing  grace !  ’tis  heaven  below 
To  feel  the  blood  applied; 

And  Jesus,  only  Jesus  knows, 

My  Jesus  crucified.” 

Finally,  Amazing  Grace  is  dying  grace.  “  Oh, 
those  rays  of  glory!”  said  Mrs.  Clarkson  when 
dying.  “  My  God,  I  come  flying  to  thee !  ”  said 
Lady  Alice  Lucy.  Lady  Hastings  said,  “  Oh,  the 
greatness  of  the  glory  that  is  revealed  to  me!” 
“Oh,  sweet  dying!”  said  Mrs.  Talbot,  of  Read¬ 
ing.  “If  this  be  dying,”  said  Lady  Glenorchy, 
“  it  is  the  pleasantest  thing  imaginable.”  “  Vic¬ 
tory,  victory,  through  the  blood  of  the  Lamb!” 
said  Grace  Bennett.  “  I  shall  go  to  my  Father  this 
night,”  said  Lady  Huntingdon.  The  dying  in¬ 
junction  of  the  mother  of  the  Wesleys  was, 
“  Children,  when  I  am  gone,  sing  a  song  of  praise 
to  God.”  “  Though  a  pilgrim  walking  in  the  val¬ 
ley,  the  mountain-tops  are  gleaming  from  peak  to 
peak,”  said  Miss  Florence  A.  Foster. 


II 


THE  WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE 

Sudden  conversions — such  an  amazing  revulsion ,  such 
a  complete  and  total  transformation  of  character  is  an 
achievement  possible  only  to  religious  influence .  Hyp¬ 
notism  as  I  know  can  undoubtedly  cure  some  men  of 
their  vice,  drugs  are  able  in  certain  cases  after  a  long 
and  difficult  treatment  to  remove  the  taste  for  alcohol , 
but  it  is  only  a  religious  force  which  in  the  twinkling  of 
an  eye  can  so  alter  the  character  of  a  man  that  he  not 
only  then  and  there  stands  utterly  free  from  tyrannical 
passion  but  is  filled  full  of  a  great  enthusiasm. — Harold 
Blgbil. 

REGENERATION/’  says  Richard  Wat¬ 
son,  “  is  that  mighty  change  in  man 
wrought  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  by  which 
the  dominion  which  sin  has  over  him  in  his  natural 
state,  and  which  he  deplores  and  struggles  against 
in  his  present  state,  is  broken  and  abolished;  so 
that  with  full  choice  of  will  and  the  energy  of  right 
affection  he  serves  God  freely,  and  runs  in  the  way 
of  His  commandments.” 

A  great  mystery  is  converting  grace!  Nico- 
demus,  that  master  of  Israel,  as  he  heard  about  it 
could  only  say  in  his  amazement,  “  How  can  these 
things  be  ?  ”  “  The  dynamics  of  the  phenomenon 
(we  call  conversion)  elude  our  philosophy,”  says 

24 


WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE  25 


one  writer.  Coleridge,  writing  about  it  said,  “  By 
what  manner  of  working  God  changes  a  soul  from 
evil  to  good;  how  He  impregnates  the  barren  rock 
with  gems  and  gold  is  to  the  human  mind  an  im¬ 
penetrable  mystery  in  all  cases  alike.” 

“  It  is  only  a  religious  force,”  says  the  eminent 
English  writer,  Harold  Begbie,  “  which  in  the 
twinkling  of  an  eye  can  so  alter  the  character  of  a 
man,  that  he  not  only  there  and  then  escapes  and 
stands  utterly  free  from  tyrannical  passions,  but  is 
filled  full  of  great  enthusiasm  and  desire  to  spend 
his  whole  life  in  working  for  righteousness,  and 
feels  as  if  he  had  fed  on  honey  dew  and  drank  the 
milk  of  paradise.” 

Someone  has  put  the  points  or  stages  culminat¬ 
ing  in  conversion  thus : 

1.  Perplexity  and  uneasiness. 

2.  Climax  and  turning  point. 

3.  Relaxation  marked  by  rest  and  joy. 

4.  Release  of  dormant  powers. 

We  see  all  these  illustrated  in  the  conversion  of 
John  Wesley.  “  I  am  clearly  convinced,”  he  said 
to  Peter  Bohler,  “of  unbelief — of  the  want  of  that 
faith  whereby  alone  we  are  saved.”  “  Lord,  give 
me,”  he  prays,  “  a  full  reliance  on  the  blood  of 
Christ  shed  for  me,  a  trust  in  Him  as  my 
Christ,  as  my  sole  justification,  sanctification  and 
redemption.” 

“  May  24,  1738,  he  goes  that  night  to  Aldersgate 
Street  Chapel  and  listens  to  a  man  reading  Luther’s 


26  WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE 


preface  to  the  Epistle  of  Romans  about  quarter 
before  nine.  The  speaker  describes  the  change 
which  God  works  in  the  heart  through  faith. 
Wesley’s  prayer  for  faith  now  becomes  the  breath¬ 
ing  of  faith.  He  feels  his  heart  strangely  warmed. 
Wesley  rises  and  testifies  thus :  “  I  now  for  the 
first  time  feel  in  my  heart  that  I  trust  in  Christ, 
Christ  alone,  for  salvation.  I  have  an  assurance 
that  He  has  taken  away  my  sins,  even  mine,  and 
saved  me  from  the  law  of  sin  and  death.” 

Charles  Wesley  celebrates  the  joy  of  converting 
grace  in  the  following  lines : 

“  Long  my  imprisoned  spirit  lay, 

Fast  bound  in  sin  and  nature’s  night; 

Thine  eye  diffused  a  quickening  ray, 

I  woke,  the  dungeon  flamed  with  light; 

My  chains  fell  off,  my  heart  was  free, 

I  rose,  went  forth,  and  followed  Thee. 

“Eo  condemnation  now  I  dread; 

Jesus  and  all  in  Him  is  mine ! 

Alive  in  Him,  my  living  Head, 

And  clothed  in  righteousness  divine; 

Bold  I  approach  the  eternal  throne. 

And  claim  the  crown,  through  Christ  my  own.” 

I  have  before  me,  which  I  will  insert  here,  the 
unique  account  of  a  sailor’s  conversion.  He  was  a 
Norwegian  and  his  prayer  and  testimony  are  in 
broken,  almost  distracted  English,  but  the  genuine¬ 
ness  of  the  conversion  will  impress  you.  He  prays 
as  follows: 


WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE  27 


“  ‘  Dear  Fader  Gott,  you  know  I  haf  been  so 
bat,  zo  fery  bat.  I  haf  been  blag  lige  pitch.  I  tink 
bat,  speak  bat,  do  bat,  all  day,  efery  day.  Unt  den 
you  make  me  know  you  lofe  me ;  you  make  me  see 
mineselluf  yoost  as  I  vas,  but  I  benn  afrait.  But 
now  I  know,  Glory  to  Gott !  I  know  the  blag  sin 
is  gone;  I  am  all  nice  unt  vite  inside,  unt  I  don’t 
afrait  any  more.’  Afterward  Jem  spoke  in  a 
public  religious  meeting  in  this  style,  and  a  more 
forcible,  pointed,  and  effective  style  has  never 
been  employed  by  any  doctor  of  divinity:  4  Dear 
Vrients :  You  hav  asked  me  to  tell  you  vat  de  Lort 
haf  done  for  me.  How  can  I  dis  do?  Ven  I  tink 
of  His  gootness  unt  lofe,  I  hav  not  vorts  efen  in 
mine  own  langridge  to  speak  of  it ;  how  den  can  I 
tell  you  in  Engelisch,  vish  I  only  talk  like  any  oder 
sailor-man?  But  yet  I  not  can  say  no.  I  vas  a 
teufel — I  dink  vorse,  because  de  teufels  dey  haf  no 
hope,  und  I  haf  shut  my  soul  up  from  hope  my- 
selluf.  If  dere  is  anything  bad  I  can  do,  I  haf  do 
it.  I  haf  hate  de  dear  Vater  Gott,  I  haf  hate  all 
His  peoples.  O,  is  dere  anything  bad  I  haf  not  do? 
I  will  say  not  any  more  aboud  my  sins,  because  I 
haf  much  shame  for  dem,  unt  yet  I  feel  dat  if  I 
talk  ’bout  dem,  I  vill  tink  mooch  of  myselluf,  pe- 
cause  I  haf  been  so  bad.  Unt  more,  I  vas  SO' 
misbul.  I  nefer  haf  no  peace,  I  nefer  haf  no  res’, 
I  nefer  haf  no  pleasure,  ’cept  I  ked  tronk  unt  fight, 
unt  dat  cos’  all  de  money  I  vork  so  hardt  for.  Den 
I  come  to  Port  Chalmers  unt  I  go  into  de  meetin’, 


28  WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE 

unt  I  hear  a  man  say  dat  de  Lort  Jesus  Christ  is 
come  to  tell  man  vat  Gott  is;  dat  Gott  ton’t  hate 
me,  an’  not  vant  me  to  die  unt  go  to  hell ;  dat  hell 
ain’d  vatin’  for  me,  but  Gott  vaits  alvus,  unt  dat  He 
ben  sorry  dat  I  vas  not  happy.  He  tell  me  dat  der 
is  only  von  man  can  send  me  to  hell,  unt  dat  is  me 
myselluf,  unt  dat  if  I  come  unt  ket  into  His  hants 
der  ain’t  no  von — no,  not  efen  de  Sattan  himselluf 
— dat  can  pull  me  ’vay  agen.  Unt  vile  I  lissen  unt 
hear  effery  vort,  beliefing  id’s  all  true — ’pout  some¬ 
body  elles — I  hear  a  vort  in  here  [striking  his 
breast]  dellin’  me,  “  Yes,  Yem,  you  ben  de  man  all 
dis  for.”  Unt  I  don’t  vait  anoder  minit.  I  belief 
id.  I  say :  “  Yes,  Lord  Yesus,  I  ben  de  man  you 
die  fur.  Unt  now  I  ben  coin’  to  gif  myselluf  all 
pop  fur  you.”  Unt,  if  any  man  say  to  me  any 
more,  “  How  do  you  know  all  dis  ?  ”  I  say  to  him, 
“  How  I  knod?  Vat  you  tink  id  is  keep  me  frum 
svearin’,  frum  bein’  bucko,  frum  keddin’  tronk, 
frum  hatin’  myselluf  unt  eferpody  elas?  You  ton’t 
know?  Veil,  I  do.  Id  ben  de  Lort  Gott  Almighty. 
Nopotty  ellas  can  do  it.”  Unt  now  I  vast  yoost 
like  a  leedle  shild.  I  haf  lose  de  taste  for  de  bad, 
unt  find  it  for  de  goot,  t’ank  Gott.  Unt  if  I,  dot 
vas  so  bad,  unt  ton’t  know  anything ’t  all,  get  holt 
of  dis  goot  ting,  who  in  de  vorlt  coin’  to  be  left 
oud?  Gott  bless  eferpody,  for  Yesus  Christ’s  sake, 
Amen.’  ” 

Cowper,  the  poet  and  author  of  “  There  is  a 
fountain  filled  with  blood,”  when  first  led  to  see 


WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE  29 


the  black  cloud  of  his  sins,  was  guided  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  into  peace  and  joy  by  one  day  reading  the 
words  of  Romans  3 : 24,  25 :  “  Being  justified 
freely  by  His  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is 
in  Christ  Jesus  whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a 
propitiation  through  faith  in  His  blood.”  He  saw, 
as  he  sat  musing  on  the  words,  how  God  waits  not 
for  merit  in  us  but  advances  to  us  from  motives  of 
love  that  spring  up  in  His  own  bosom,  and  how  He 
meets  what  the  law  demands  by  the  offering  of 
His  own  Son — an  offering  which  is  held  forth  for 
the  acceptance  of  every  sinner  that  has  a  heart  to 
understand. 

Colonel  Gardiner,  of  the  British  Army,  was  a 
desperate  sinner.  The  mercy  of  God  reached  him 
and  he  was  in  the  throes  of  the  most  awful  convic¬ 
tion  for  weeks — his  gloom  was  almost  past  endur¬ 
ance.  In  October,  1719,  he  read  the  words: 
“  Whom  God  hath  set  forth  to  be  a  propitiation 
through  faith  in  His  blood,  to  declare  His  right¬ 
eousness  for  the  remission  of  sins  that  He  might 
be  just  and  the  Justifier  of  him  that  believeth  in 
Jesus  ”  (Rom.  3  :  25,  26).  Here  he  saw  the  riches 
of  redeeming  grace  and  love  in  such  a  manner  as 
even  swallowed  up  his  whole  heart  in  love;  so  that 
for  seven  years  after  he  had  thus  drunk  of  this 
well,  he  enjoyed  a  heaven  upon  earth,  from  the 
time  of  his  waking  in  the  morning  till  evening 
closed  his  eyes. 

The  following  account  of  the  remarkable  con- 


30  WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE 


version  of  Jim  Owen  has  been  given  by  Dr. 
George  W.  Truett,  of  Texas : 

“  I’ll  tell  you  of  the  most  marvelous  conversion 
I  ever  saw.  I  have  told  you  it  was  my  joy  every 
summer  to  preach  in  the  cattle  camps  in  West 
Texas.  One  year  when  I  went  some  of  the  men 
came  to  me  and  said,  ‘  There  is  one  man  here  on 
whom  you  need  not  waste  your  time,  and  that  is 
ex-Sheriff  Jim  Owen.  He’ll  come  once,  then  he’ll 
curse  you  all  over  the  mountains ;  he  always  does.’ 
They  described  him  to  me  so  that  I  could  not  miss 
him.  One  evening  I  went  to  preach,  and  as  I  stood 
before  that  great  congregation  in  came  Jim  Owen. 
I  preached  and  the  Spirit  of  God  moved  mightily 
over  that  great  audience  and  many  sinners  came, 
but  there  Jim  sat  with  a  most  intent  gaze  upon  his 
face  but  apparently  unmoved. 

“  After  the  service  we  stood  around  talking,  and 
some  said,  ‘  Jim  Owen  was  here  tonight,  but  he’ll 
never  come  again.  He’ll  curse  you  out ;  he  always 
does  when  any  preacher  comes.  He’ll  come  once 
and  then  curse  you  and  the  Church  out/  but  some 
of  the  others  said,  ‘No,  I  believe  he  will  be  back; 
he  had  a  peculiar  expression  on  his  face  that  he 
never  had  before ;  he’ll  come  again/ 

“  I  started  for  my  lodging  place,  some  rods  from 
the  camp,  away  from  the  noise,  over  a  mountain¬ 
ous  region,  when  I  heard  someone  talking,  but  as 
I  drew  nearer  I  realised  that  there  were  two  of 
them,  and  that  they  were  praying.  I  did  not  mean 


WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE  31 


to  eavesdrop,  but  I  was  held  to  the  spot.  They 
prayed  something  like  this,  ‘  Oh,  God,  thou  hast 
promised  that  if  two  of  us  shall  agree  on  earth  as 
touching  anything  that  we  shall  ask,  that  thou  will 
give  it  us.  We  are  praying  tonight  for  Jim  Owen. 
They  say  he  can’t  be  saved,  but  Oh,  God,  thou 
canst  save  the  vilest  sinner.  Save  him  and  let  the 
people  know  that  nothing  is  too  hard  for  God; 
save  Jim  Owen,  that  Thou  mightest  close  the 
mouths  of  the  people  and  get  the  glory  to  Thyself.’ 
That’s  the  way  to  pray,  that’s  the  way  to  pray. 

“  I  slipped  away — they  never  knew  I  heard  their 
prayer — but  I  did  not  sleep.  The  next  evening 
when  I  stood  up  to  preach,  in  came  Jim  Owen. 
All  the  sermon  that  I  had  prepared  fled,  and  I  said, 
*  We’ll  sing  a  stanza  and  then  I’ll  ask  this  brother 
in  front  to  lead  in  prayer,  asking  that  God  will  give 
me  the  right  message.  His  Spirit  knows  the  need 
of  these  hearts.’  I  preached  that  night  from  the 
parable  of  the  Prodigal  Son,  telling  it  as  simply  as 
to  a  little  child.  I  said :  ‘  Here  was  a  man  well 
reared,  but  he  abused  it,  good  environment  but  he 
trampled  it  under  foot  and  went  away  despite  the 
protests  of  his  father  and  friends  and  wasted  his 
substance;  but  when  he  had  spent  all  he  came  to 
himself.  Oh,  that  men  would  come  to  themselves! 
He  said,  “  I  will  arise  and  go  to  my  father,  and 
shall  say  unto  him,  father,  I  have  sinned  against 
heaven  and  in  thy  sight  and  am  no  more  worthy 
to  be  called  thy  son ;  make  me  as  one  of  thy  hired 


32  WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE 


servants.”  He  not  only  made  the  good  resolution, 
but  he  kept  it;  he  arose  and  came.  Now  I  see  that 
old  father  at  the  gate ;  He’s  watching.  “  Oh,  how 
I  wish  my  boy  would  come  home ;  how  often  have 
I  longed  for  him !  Who  is  this  coming  ?  It  walks 
like  my  boy,  but  so  many  have  passed  that  I 
thought  walked  like  him,  but  as  he  draws  nearer, 
he  looks  more  like  him,”  and  when  he  was  yet  a 
great  way  off  the  watching  father  recognised  him 
and  ran  and  fell  upon  his  neck  and  kissed  him. 

“  ‘  If  there  is  a  man  in  this  audience  that  is  in 
this  poor  prodigal’s  condition,  I’ve  a  friend  for 
him.  If  there  is  such  a  man  and  he  wants  to  come 
back  let  him  come  down  the  aisle  and  take  my 
hand,’  and  Jim  sprang  to  his  feet  and  came,  reeling 
like  a  drunken  man  because  of  the  intensity  of  his 
emotions.  Everyone  was  on  his  feet  in  a  moment. 
Jim  took  my  hand  and  said,  ‘  Mr.  Truett,  do  you 
mean  to  tell  me  that  if  I  surrender  myself  to  Jesus 
He’ll  save  me?’  ‘That’s  exactly  what  I  mean.’ 
‘  But/  he  said,  ‘  I’m  the  worst  man  this  side  of  hell, 
can  He  save  me  ?  ’  ‘  He  died  to  save  the  vilest 

sinner  this  side  of  hell,  and  He’ll  save  you  if 
you’ll  surrender  to  Him/  ‘  That’s  right,  Jim,  the 
preacher’s  right/  said  the  men.  ‘If  I  surrender 
now  to  Him,  when  will  He  save  me?’  ‘He  will 
save  you  now,  Mr.  Owen,  right  now/  ‘  That’s 
right/  said  the  men,  ‘  that’s  right,  Jim/  Then  he 
said,  ‘  Lord  Jesus,  the  worst  man  out  of  hell  sur¬ 
renders  to  you  just  now/  Everyone  was  crying, 


WONDERS  OF  CONVERTING  GRACE  33 


the  men  and  women  kissed  him,  and  there  was 
great  joy,  for  the  chief  of  sinners  had  been  saved, 
God  loosed  his  tongue  and  he  turned  to  those  men 
and  gave  the  most  marvelous  testimony  I  ever 
heard. 

“  For  years  there  had  been  a  great  feud  between 
him  and  another  man,  and  the  next  day  he  went  to 
his  enemy  and  said,  ‘  Friend,  you’re  not  afraid  of 
me  and  I’m  not  afraid  of  you,  and  I’ve  come  to 
ask  forgiveness  for  all  the  wrongs  I  have  done 
you.  I’m  a  new  man  now.’  Thus  the  breach  was 
healed,  and  they  came  together  singing  the  praises 
of  God.” 

“  Friend,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  is  mighty  to  save.,, 


Ill 


THE  WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER 

Our  prayers  when  we  pray  in  the  Holy  Ghost  will  he 
marked  by  strength.  James  tells  us  that  “  the  supplica¬ 
tion  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much  in  its  working” 
(James  5:16,  R.  V.).  The  word  he  employs  in  telling 
us  this  sets  before  us  forcibly  the  point  with  which  we 
are  dealing.  The  prayers  of  him  who  prays  in  the 
Holy  Ghost  have  strength  (ischusj  vigour — bodily  and 
mental.  This  word  suggests  strength  in  repose. 
Further,  the  prayers  of  him  who  prays  in  the  Holy 
Ghost  have  energy  (energeia).  This  word  suggests 
strength  in  action.  It  is  operative;  it  is  efficient.  It 
achieves  results;  it  works  wonders.  He  who  prays  in 
the  Holy  Ghost  makes  prayer,  for  the  time  being,  the 
only  business  of  his  life.  He  gives  himself  up  to  it,  and 
puts  himself,  mind,  and  heart,  and  will  into  it.  So  he 
prevails.  He  obtains  answers.  He  seeks  and  finds,  He 
asks  and  receives.  He  knocks  and  to  him  the  door  is 
opened. — Dr.  G.  H.  C.  MacGregor. 

BISHOP  HALL,  in  a  well-known  extract, 
thus  puts  the  point  of  earnestness  in  its 
relation  to  the  prayer  of  faith.  “An  ar¬ 
row,  if  it  be  drawn  up  but  a  little  way,  goes  not 
far;  but  if  it  be  pulled  up  to  the  head,  flies  swiftly 
and  pierces  deep.  Thus  prayer,  if  it  be  only  drib¬ 
bled  forth  from  careless  lips,  falls  at  our  feet.  It 
is  the  strength  of  strong  desire  which  sends  it  to 

34 


WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER  35 


Heaven,  and  makes  it  pierce  the  clouds.  It  is  not 
the  arithmetic  of  our  prayers,  how  many  they  are; 
nor  the  rhetoric  of  our  prayers,  how  eloquent  they 
be ;  nor  the  geometry  of  our  prayers,  how  long  they 
be;  nor  the  music  of  our  prayers,  how  sweet  our 
voice  may  be;  nor  the  logic  of  our  prayers,  how 
argumentative  they  may  be;  nor  even  the  divinity 
of  our  prayers,  how  good  the  doctrine  may  be, 
which  God  cares  for.  .  .  .  Fervency  of  spirit  is 
that  which  availeth  much.” 

In  an  old  book  of  sermons  the  preacher  dis¬ 
cusses  the  subject  of  Faith  and  says: 

“Faith  in  God  ennobles  Reason;  Unbelief  de¬ 
grades  Reason. 

“  Faith  in  God  involves  in  its  very  act  a  ra¬ 
tional  appreciation  of  evidence.  (The  evidence  of 
Bible  truth  is  so  clear  that  man  cannot  reject  it 
without  folly  as  well  as  sin.) 

“  Faith  in  God  promotes  the  highest  exercise  of 
reason  because  it  rests  upon  the  most  substantial 
and  durable  foundation. 

“  Faith  takes  in  the  sublimest  truths  and  the 
widest  circle  of  thought.  (Here  are  mines  flash¬ 
ing  with  gems  of  richest  lustre  ;  here  is  a  paradise 
where  the  tree  of  knowledge  luxuriates  with  perem 
nial  fruits,  and  truths  are  budding  now  that  shall 
effloresce  in  the  sunny  clime  of  heaven.) 

“  Guided  by  the  philosophy  of  faith  we  shall  not 
stumble  at  mysteries  nor  at  alleged  contradictions 
between  science  and  revelation.  (Philosophic 


36  WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER 


quaerit,  theologia  invenit,  religio  possidet  verita- 
tem.  Said  Picus  of  Mirandola,  ‘  Philosophy  seeks 
truth,  theology  finds  it,  religion  possesses  it/  ” 

Faith  is  an  essential  condition  of  salvation. 

Faith  is  essential  to  the  enlightenment  and  ex¬ 
pansion  of  our  intellectual  vision.  (Faith  does  not 
create  these  truths;  it  does  not  discover  them;  but 
it  accepts  them  as  eternal  verities  unfolded  from 
the  mind  of  God.) 

Faith  is  essential  to  the  refining  and  ennobling 
of  our  spiritual  nature. 

Faith  is  a  principle  of  moral  discipline  to  edu¬ 
cate  and  fit  the  soul  for  a  higher  state  of  being. 

Faith  is  a  principle  pertaining  to  eternity  as  well 
as  time. 

(To  cherish  infidelity  is  to  paralyse  one  of  the 
noblest  faculties  of  the  soul.) 

The  simplicity,  yet  power,  of  faith  is  illustrated 
by  the  following : 

“  I  am  glad  there  is  a  depth  in  the  Bible  I  know 
nothing  about/’  says  Mr.  Moody ;  “  that  there  is  a 
height  there  I  cannot  climb  to  if  I  should  live  to 
be  as  old  as  Methuselah:  I  venture  to  say  that  if  I 
should  live  for  ages  on  earth  I  would  only  have 
touched  its  surface.  I  pity  the  man  who  knows  all 
the  Bible,  for  it  is  a  pretty  good  sign  he  doesn’t 
know  himself.  A  man  came  to  me  with  what  he 
thought  was  a  very  difficult  passage,  and  he  said: 

“  ‘  Mr.  Moody,  how  do  you  explain  it  ?  ’ 

“  I  said :  ‘  I  don’t  explain  it/ 


WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER  37 


“  ‘  But  how  do  you  interpret  it  ?  5 

“  *  I  don’t  interpret  it.’ 

“  ‘  Well,  how  do  you  understand  it?  9 

“  €  I  don’t  understand  it.’ 

“  ‘  But  what  do  you  do  with  it  ?  ’ 

“  *  I  don’t  do  anything  with  it.’ 

“  *  You  don’t  believe  it?  ’ 

“  Yes.  I  believe  it.  There  are  lots  of  things 
that  I  believe  that  I  do  not  understand.  In  John 
three,  Christ  says  to  Nicodemus:  ‘If  you  do  not 
understand  earthly  things,  how  can  you  under¬ 
stand  heavenly  things  ?  ’  About  my  own  body  I 
do  not  understand.  I  don’t  understand  nature; 
it  is  filled  with  wonderful  things  I  don’t  compre¬ 
hend.  Then  why  should  I  expect  to  know  every¬ 
thing  spiritually  ? 

“  But  men  ask,  ‘  How  can  you  prove  the  Book  is 
inspired  ?  ’  I  answer,  ‘  Because  it  inspires  me.’  ” 

That  is  one  of  the  best  proofs.  It  does  in¬ 
spire  us. 

Faith  and  Prayer  go  together. 

A  mighty  man  of  prayer  was  David  Brainerd. 
In  his  diary  we  read  this  record:  “Found  some 
ardour  of  soul  in  secret  prayer;  O  that  I  might 
grow  up  into  the  likeness  of  God.”  .  .  .  “  I  was 
in  such  anguish  and  pleaded  with  such  earnestness 
and  importunity  that  when  I  rose  from  my  knees  I 
felt  extremely  weak  and  overcome.  .  .  .  Thus  I 
spent  the  evening  praying  incessantly  for  divine 
assistance.”  As  a  result  of  his  praying  he  saw 


38  WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER 


mighty  outpourings  of  the  Spirit.  “  The  power  of 
God  seemed  to  descend  upon  the  assembly  like  a 
mighty  rushing  wind  and  with  an  astonishing 
energy  bore  down  all  before  it.  I  stood  amazed  at 
the  influence  which  seemed  to  seize  the  audience 
and  could  compare  it  to  nothing  more  aptly  than 
the  irresistible  force  of  a  mighty  torrent  or  swell¬ 
ing  deluge.” 

Fenelon,  that  great  French  saint,  said:  “Of  all 
the  duties  enjoined  by  Christianity  none  is  more 
essential  and  yet  more  neglected  than  prayer. 
Most  people  consider  the  exercise  a  fatiguing  cere¬ 
mony,  which  they  are  justified  in  abridging  as 
much  as  possible.  Even  those  whose  professions 
or  fears  lead  them  to  pray,  pray  with  such  languor 
and  wanderings  of  mind  that  their  prayers,  far 
from  drawing  down  blessings,  only  increase  their 
condemnation.” 

John  Foster,  the  Baptist  divine,  has  said,  “  More 
and  better  praying  will  bring  the  surest  and  read¬ 
iest  triumph  to  God’s  cause ;  feeble,  formal,  listless 
praying  brings  decay  and  death.  The  Church  has 
its  sheet  anchor  in  the  closet;  its  magazine  stores 
are  there  .  .  .  when  the  Church  of  God  is  aroused 
to  its  obligation  and  duties,  and  right  faith  to  claim 
what  Christ  has  promised — all  things  whatsoever 
— a  revolution  will  take  place.” 

It  was  said  of  Luther’s  prayer  life  that  “  Not  a 
day  passes  in  which  he  does  not  employ  in  prayer 
at  least  three  of  his  very  best  hours.”  Someone 


WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER  39 


listening  to  him  in  prayer  said,  “  Whilst  I  was 
listening  to  Luther  praying  in  this  manner  at  a 
distance,  my  soul  seemed  on  fire  within  me  to  hear 
the  man  address  God  so  like  a  friend  yet  with  such 
gravity  and  reverence ;  and  also  to  hear  him  in  the 
course  of  his  prayer,  insisting  on  the  promises 
contained  in  the  Psalms  as  if  he  were  sure  his 
petitions  would  be  granted.” 

“  I  tell  the  Lord  my  troubles  and  difficulties  and 
wait  for  Him  to  give  me  the  answers  to  them,” 
says  one  man  of  God.  “  And  it  is  wonderful  how 
a  matter  that  looked  very  dark  will  in  prayer  be¬ 
come  clear  as  crystal  by  the  help  of  God’s  Spirit. 
I  think  Christians  fail  so  often  to  get  answers  to 
their  prayers  because  they  do  not  wait  long  enough 
on  God.  They  just  drop  down  and  pray  a  few 
words  and  then  jump  up  and  forget  it,  and  expect 
God  to  answer  them.  Such  praying  always  re¬ 
minds  me  of  the  small  boy  ringing  his  neighbour’s 
door-bell  and  then  running  away  as  fast  as  he 
can  go.” 

The  prayer  of  faith  is  the  only  power  in  the  uni¬ 
verse  to  which  the  great  Jehovah  yields.  Prayer 
is  the  sovereign  remedy. 

There  are  three  degrees  in  prayer — saying  pray¬ 
ers,  praying  and  prevailing  in  prayer.  To  prevail 
in  prayer,  we  must  understand  that  prayer  is  con¬ 
flict.  “  Orare  est  laborare,”  cried  Luther.  It  is 
said  of  Jesus,  “  and  being  in  an  agony,  he  prayed 
more  earnestly.”  Isaiah  64 : 7  mourns  that  there 


40  WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER 


is  no  one  stirring  up  himself  to  take  hold  of  God. 
Truly  has  one  said,  “  Prayer  is  the  putting  forth 
of  the  utmost  energy  of  character  in  earnest  desire, 
making  fullest  and  strongest  demand  upon  God. 
Prayer  needs  the  whole  energy  of  man,  but  at  the 
same  moment  his  whole  nature  must  be  sustained, 
pervaded,  animated  by  the  divine  spirit,  who  him¬ 
self  fills  man  with  his  own  energy.”  St.  Catherine 
told  a  friend  that  the  anguish  she  experienced  in 
the  realisation  of  the  sufferings  of  Christ  was 
greatest  at  the  moment  she  was  pleading  for  the 
salvation  of  others.  Thus,  to  her,  prevailing 
prayer  meant  anguish  of  soul. 

Prayer  is  both  subjective  and  objective.  Plenry 
Ward  Beecher  exemplified  wonderfully  in  his  pul¬ 
pit  prayers,  the  subjective  element  in  prayer.  It  is 
said  that  the  effect  of  his  prayers  was  magical  upon 
the  great  throng.  It  would  seem  while  Mr. 
Beecher  was  praying  that  each  one  in  the  church 
was  taken  in  his  arms  and  borne  into  the  presence 
of  that  God  who  was  waiting  to  be  gracious. 
Many  said  that  after  the  prayer  they  did  not  seem 
to  need  the  sermon.  Their  weary,  yearning,  dis¬ 
satisfied  spirits  had  obtained  rest,  satisfaction  and 
peace.  But  prayer  is  objective,  and  this  we  would 
say  with  emphasis.  Prayer  not  only  calms  and 
soothes  and  comforts,  but  it  brings  wonderful 
things  to  pass.  Heine,  the  German  philosopher 
and  skeptic,  once  said :  “  When  men  call  for 
help  on  the  unseen,  no  one  but  a  fool  expects 


WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER  41 


an  answer.”  This  is  the  rationalistic  view  of 
prayer,  but  we  believe  that  it  is  the  highest 
wisdom  to  pray  fervently  and  believingly,  and 
expect  to  get  things  from  God  in  answer  to  prayer. 
God’s  people  have  prayed  for  money,  and  money 
has  come.  They  have  prayed  for  help,  and  help 
has  been  given.  They  have  prayed  for  friends, 
and  friends  have  arrived.  They  have  prayed  for 
open  doors,  and  doors  have  been  opened.  They 
have  prayed  for  health  and  it  was  given.  They 
have  prayed  for  food  and  clothing,  and  it  came. 
In  a  thousand  or  more  ways  God,  the  mighty  God, 
has  listened  to  the  cries  of  His  children  and 
answered  in  ways  miraculous,  mysterious  and 
marvelous. 

Here  is  a  remarkable  answer  to  prayer.  Dr. 
Talmage  says : 

“  In  the  winter  of  1875  we  were  worshipping  in 
the  Brooklyn  Academy  of  Music.  We  had  great 
audiences,  but  I  was  oppressed  beyond  measure  by 
the  fact  that  conversions  were  not  numerous.  On 
Tuesday  I  invited  to  my  house  five  old  consecrated 
Christian  men.  These  old  men  came  not  knowing 
why  I  had  invited  them.  I  took  them  to  the  top 
room  of  my  house.  I  said  to  them,  *  I  have  called 
you  here  for  special  prayer.  I  am  in  agony  for  a 
great  turning  to  God  of  the  people.  We  have  vast 
multitudes  in  attendance,  and  they  are  attentive 
and  respectful,  but  I  cannot  see  that  they  are  saved. 
Let  us  kneel  down  and  each  one  pray,  and  not  leave 


42  WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER 


this  room  until  we  are  all  assured  that  the  blessing 
will  come,  and  has  come.’  It  was  a  most  intense 
crying  unto  God.  I  said,  ‘  Brethren,  let  this  meet¬ 
ing  be  a  secret/  and  they  said,  ‘  It  will  be/  That 
next  Friday  night  came  the  usual  prayer-meeting. 
No  one  knew  what  had  occurred  on  Tuesday  night, 
but  the  meeting  was  unusually  thronged.  Men  ac¬ 
customed  to  pray  in  public  with  great  composure 
broke  down  under  emotion.  The  people  were  in 
tears.  There  were  sobs  and  silences  and  solemni¬ 
ties  of  such  unusual  power  that  the  worshippers 
looked  into  each  others’  faces  as  much  as  to  say, 
‘  What  does  all  this  mean  ?  ’  And  when  the  fol¬ 
lowing  Sabbath  came,  although  we  were  in  a 
secular  place,  over  400  arose  for  prayers,  and  a 
religious  awakening  took  place  that  made  that 
winter  memorable.” 

A  most  extraordinary  answer  to  prayer. 

Miss  Jennie  Hughes  and  Dr.  Mary  Stone,  of 
China,  who,  because  of  their  refusal  to  submit  to 
the  demands  of  Modernism  resigned  from  the 

. Missionary  Society  of  the 

. Church,  after  seventeen 

years’  faithful  labours,  are  now  doing  a  remark¬ 
able  work  in  Shanghai,  China,  along  independent 
lines.  In  a  recent  letter  Miss  Hughes  tells  a  most 
remarkable  story.  It  reads  like  a  romance,  but  it 
shows  how  wonderfully  God  will  provide  a  way 
when  every  door  is  shut.  The  Eastern  Methodist 
published  the  incident  thus : 


WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER  43 


“  The  following  interesting  incident  is  taken 
from  a  recent  letter  from  Miss  Jennie  Hughes: 
‘  This  place  is  situated  at  Arsenal  Road,  so  called 
because  the  Arsenal  and  a  huge  barrack  are  there. 
When  we  first  came  we  were  told  it  would  not  be 
safe — that  this  was  the  wildest  part  of  Shanghai — 
that  the  soldiers  would  molest  the  nurses,  etc.  But 
we  felt  we  had  been  guided  in  coming,  so  left  all 
such  questions  to  God.  We  had  not  been  here  long 
when  we  so  much  wished  we  could  begin  evangel¬ 
istic  work  among  the  soldiers,  but  as  we  were  all 
women  and  did  not  have  even  a  native  pastor 
of  our  own,  we  could  not  gain  entrance  to  the 
barracks. 

“  *  Well,  one  day  I  was  having  a  room  cleaned 
out  where  some  of  the  boarding  school  pupils  slept, 
and  among  their  last  year’s  dilapidated  school 
books  I  found  a  torn  Bible,  just  a  part  of  the  New 
Testament.  I  gave  all  the  scraps  of  various  kinds 
to  the  coolie  to  burn,  but  as  he  was  preparing  to 
light  the  fire,  one  of  the  prowling,  semi-wild  dogs 
that  abound  all  over  China  ran  in  and,  grabbing 
the  Bible  in  his  mouth,  made  off  with  it.  We  did 
not  know  the  sequel  till  quite  a  while  afterward. 
Then  we  learned  that  the  dog  ran  down  the  road 
and  dashed  between  the  sentries  at  the  gate  into 
the  courtyard  of  the  barracks.  Some  soldiers  who 
had  nothing  to  do  chased  him  to  find  out  what  he 
had  in  his  mouth,  and  when  they  got  the  torn  book 
they  sat  down  and  read  it.  None  of  them  had 


44  WONDERS  OF  FAITH  AND  PRAYER 


ever  seen  a  Bible,  though  they  had  heard  of  it,  and 
they  all  read  all  there  was  in  it.  The  next  Sunday, 
when  Dr.  Stone  was  leading  the  morning  service, 
she  was  amazed  to  see  two  officers  and  a  group  of 
soldiers  come  into  the  church  and  sit  down  at  the 
back.  They  were  the  ones  who  had  read  the  dog’s 
Bible,  and  they  have  been  coming  ever  since. 
Their  wives  and  children  are  now  Dr.  Mary’s 
patients,  and  an  entrance  has  been  effected  into  the 
military  community.  Is  not  that  just  as  wonderful 
as  Elijah  and  the  ravens  ?  ’  ” 


IV 

SIN  AND  SALVATION 

The  old  Theology  of  sin  seems  to  he  dying  and  in  its 
place  the  rudest  creeds,  spiritualism,  theosophy,  mystic 
mummery,  New  Theology  and  infidelity  spring  up 
carrying  multitudes  to  ruin  and  hell.  Too  often  is  sin 
set  in  fair  forms  and  dazzling  colours.  The  seduction 
of  many  a  soul  is  wrought  by  poetry  and  its  ruin  by 
music.  We  may  be  poisoned  zvith  roses  and  our  corrup¬ 
tion  be  covered  by  a  cloth  of  gold,  and  the  pathway  of 
ruin  may  be  strewn  zvith  flowers.  Our  very  shames 
may  glow  zvith  delusive  lustre  and  dazzle  the  sight.  A 
brilliant  spider  on  the  Amazon  spreads  itself  out  like  a 
flower  and  attracts  to  their  torment  and  death  multi¬ 
tudes  of  insects.  Souls  are  deceived  and  ruined  by  the 
legerdemain  of  passion  and  fancy.  “  The  power  of 
imagination  may  purge  the  darkest  sins  into  lily  white¬ 
ness,  perfume  it  with  violet  and  steep  it  in  the  colour 
of  the  rose.” — W.  L.  Watkinson. 

IT  is  said  of  Thomas  Boston,  that  great 
preacher  of  the  long  ago,  that  often  his 
language  was  tasked  and  strained  to  the  ut¬ 
most  when  he  would  preach  on  “  Redemptive 
Blessings,”  which  as  he  understood  them  and  pro¬ 
claimed  them  with  a  full  soul,  met  “  all  men’s  ne¬ 
cessities;  the  full  and  irrevocable  forgiveness  of 
sins ;  reinstatement  in  the  divine  favour  and  friend¬ 
ship;  the  gift  of  the  Holy  Spirit  in  his  enlighten- 

45 


46 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


in g,  purifying  and  peace-giving  influences,  turning 
men  into  living  temples  of  the  Living  God.” 

It  was  a  saying  of  Jerome  that  “  he  that  hath 
slight  thoughts  of  sin  never  had  great  thoughts  of 
God.”  We  must  confess  with  Jowett  that  “  we  do 
not  like  some  of  the  stern,  bare,  jagged  words 
which  our  fathers  used  in  their  description  of  sin.” 
There  is  a  kind  of  psychology  around  today  that  is 
inflicting  death  wounds  to  our  theology  and  a  lot 
of  thinking  and  teaching  that  would  interpret 
human  need  “  as  though  it  were  a  skin  complaint 
and  not  a  heart  disease.”  As  a  result  of  this  ex¬ 
punged  and  devitalised  theology  “  the  consciences 
of  the  people  are  being  stroked  with  feathers 
dipped  in  oil.” 

It  is  a  noteworthy  fact  that  the  preachers  every¬ 
where  in  every  age  and  time  who  have  been  the 
most  evangelical,  the  most  successful  in  winning 
souls  and  whose  ministry  has  blessed  their  age  and 
generation  have  all  been  men  who  have  held  a 
vigourous  Pauline  and  Johannine  doctrine  of  sin. 
From  Augustine  down  to  Billy  Sunday  this  is  so. 
The  man  whose  doctrine  of  sin  is  defective  will  be 
defective  all  along  the  line  of  his  theology,  and 
undoubtedly  one  of  the  troubles  of  our  age  is  a 
sadly  defective  theology  of  sin.  Damage  the 
doctrine  of  sin  and  you  damage  the  doctrine  of 
the  atonement;  damage  that  and  your  Christology 
becomes  impaired ;  damage  that  and  the  inspiration 
and  authority  of  your  Bible  suffers  also,  and  thus 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


47 


it  goes  on  till  all  goes  and  faith  suffers  complete 
wreckage. 

True  words  were  those  of  Jowett:  “  You  can¬ 
not  expunge  the  theology  and  retain  the  morality; 
a  devitalised  theology  creates  a  disabled  and  dis¬ 
pirited  morality;  impoverish  your  creed  and  you 
sterilise  your  morality.” 

There  are  on  the  whole  three  schools  of  thought 
upon  the  sin  question. 

1.  Those  who  teach  that  sin  lies  in  the  wrong 
action  of  the  will  and  that  there  is  no  moral  de¬ 
pravity  from  which  we  need  salvation.  This  is 
Pelagianism. 

2.  Those  who  hold  that  sin  is  constitutional  and 
involves  voluntary  transgression  and  guilt,  but  we 
cannot  be  made  entirely  free  from  sin  in  this  life. 
This  is  Calvinism. 

3.  Those  who  hold  that  man  is  born  with  a 
corrupt  nature  (depravity)  and  becomes  an 
actual  transgressor  involving  condemnation  and 
guilt,  but  through  divine  grace  can  be  fully  saved 
from  sin  in  this  life.  This  is  Arminianism  or 
Methodism. 

The  first  and  second  views  of  sin  tend  to  make 
allowance  for  sin  and  furnish  many  opportunities 
to  speak  of  the  “  corruptions  in  their  heart,  in  an 
unaffected  and  airy  manner,  as  if  they  talked  of 
freckles  upon  their  faces  and  to  run  down  their 
sinful  nature  only  to  apologise  for  their  sinful 
practices;  or  to  appear  great  proficients  in  self- 


48 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


knowledge  and  count  the  praise  due  to  genuine 
humility.” 

The  Methodist  doctrine  of  sin  tells  the  secret  of 
our  success  in  getting  multitudes  saved.  We  have 
preached  that  human  nature  is  corrupt  and  men 
have  sinned  grievously  against  God,  bringing  on 
them  guilt  and  condemnation.  This  has  produced 
conviction  and  penitence  and  repentance,  the  only 
conditions  of  soul  which  God  can  bless  with  a  sal¬ 
vation  that  abundantly  pardons  the  transgressor 
and  cleanses  from  all  sin.  The  history  of  Method¬ 
ism  is  written  in  tears  of  the  penitent,  sobs  of  the 
contrite,  joys  of  the  converted  and  shouts  of  the 
sanctified,  and  hallelujahs  of  the  redeemed! 

Fundamental  in  our  doctrine  of  sin  is  con¬ 
viction  for  sin.  A  recent  tract  of  Modernism 
on  “  How  May  I  Become  a  Christian?”  (pub¬ 
lished  by  the  Department  of  Evangelism)  has  the 
following : 

“To  become  a  Christian  one  actually  sets  out  to 
accomplish  aggressively  certain  goals.”  .  .  .  “  The 
man  who  would  become  a  Christian  must  be  will¬ 
ing  to  believe  good  things  about  God  and  about 
himself.”  .  .  .  “  When  one  makes  an  honest  effort 
to  think  good  things  about  God  and  himself  he  will 
naturally  turn  to  Jesus  Christ,  who  is  the  ‘  out¬ 
standing  expert.’  ”  .  .  .  “  The  moment  a  man 
musters  the  might  of  his  will  and  acts — crusades — 
discovers  God  by  means  of  the  life  of  Jesus  and 
becomes  a  friend  of  Christ  at  that  moment  he 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


49 


becomes  a  Christian  though  it  takes  a  lifetime  to 
complete  the  task.” 

This  tract  throws  into  discard  everything  evan¬ 
gelical  and  Biblical.  It  is  Unitarian.  It  ignores 
the  fact  of  guilt  and  has  no  place  for  conviction  of 
sin.  It  looks  upon  Christ  as  an  “  outstanding  ex¬ 
pert,”  but  fails  to  honour  Him  as  “  Mighty  to 
Save,”  a  wonderful  Saviour,  and  totally  ignores 
the  blood  of  Jesus,  but  what  we  must  consider  as 
fundamental  in  the  Gospel  is  the  fact  of  sin  and 
Conviction  for  Sin.  Dr.  Buckley  said : 

“  It  is  the  fashion  among  some  Christians  to 
think  that  painful  experiences  of  conviction  are 
felt  only  by  weak,  ignorant,  and  superstitious  per¬ 
sons.  But  this  is  not  the  case.  Augustine  was  not 
weak  or  ignorant.  He  was  a  scholar  and  a  phi¬ 
losopher,  a  man  of  powerful  intellect.  Jonathan 
Edwards  was  neither  a  weak  nor  ignorant  man. 
William  Wilberforce  was  not  a  weak  man.  John 
Bunyan  was  not  educated  in  the  ordinary  sense  of 
that  term,  but  he  was  a  man  of  remarkable  talents 
and  extraordinary  good  sense.  All  these  men  ex¬ 
perienced  the  deepest  anguish  of  soul  on  account 
of  sin.  They  felt  as  though  their  sins  had  plunged 
them  into  a  bottomless  abyss  of  misery.  Daniel 
Webster  was  not  a  weak  man.  Americans  delight 
to  honour  him  as  a  man  of  rare  intellectual  powers 
and  statesmanlike  grasp  of  thought.  It  is  well 
known  that  he  was  not  a  real  Christian  in  his  life. 
When  asked  what  was  the  greatest  thought  he  ever 


50 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


had,  he  replied,  ‘  In  my  opinion  the  greatest 
thought  that  ever  entered  a  human  mind  is  man’s 
personal  accountability  to  God.’  It  is  said  that 
Mr.  Webster,  on  his  dying  bed,  repeated  the  whole 
of  that  penitential  hymn  of  Isaac  Watts  which  is 
sung  in  nearly  all  the  churches : 

“  4  Show  pity,  Lord ;  O  Lord,  forgive  ! 

Let  a  repenting  rebel  live; 

Are  not  Thy  mercies  large  and  free? 

May  not  a  sinner  trust  in  Thee? 

"  ‘  My  crimes  are  great,  but  don’t  surpass 
The  power  and  glory  of  Thy  grace; 

Great  God,  Thy  nature  hath  no  bound, 

So  let  Thy  pardoning  love  be  found. 

“ 1  O  wash  my  soul  from  every  sin, 

And  make  my  guilty  conscience  clean; 

Here  on  my  heart  the  burden  lies, 

And  past  offenses  pain  mine  eyes. 

“  ‘  My  lips  with  shame  my  sins  confess 
Against  Thy  law,  against  Thy  grace; 

Lord,  should  Thy  judgments  grow  severe, 

I  am  condemned,  but  Thou  art  clear.’  ” 

When  George  Mueller  was  under  conviction 
he  said: 

“  Never  in  my  whole  life  had  I  seen  myself  so 
vile,  so  guilty,  so  altogether  what  I  ought  not  to 
have  been,  as  at  this  time.  It  was  as  if  every  sin 
of  which  I  had  been  guilty  was  brought  to  my  re¬ 
membrance;  but  at  the  same  time  I  could  realise 
that  all  my  sins  were  completely  forgiven — that  I 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


51 


was  washed  and  made  clean,  completely  clean,  in 
the  blood  of  Jesus.  The  result  of  this  was  great 
peace.” 

John  Wesley  furnishes  us  a  striking  example 
of  conviction  for  sin.  We  see  this  man — M.  A.  of 
Oxford,  Clergyman  of  the  Established  Church, 
Missionary  to  Georgia  returning  to  London, 
mourning  over  his  lost  condition  thus : 

“  This  then  have  I  learned  in  the  ends  of  the 
earth:  That  I  am  fallen  short  of  the  glory  of  God; 
that  my  whole  heart  is  altogether  corrupt  and 
abominable,  and  consequently  my  whole  life  (see¬ 
ing  it  cannot  be,  that  an  evil  tree  should  bring  forth 
good  fruit),  that  alienated  as  I  am  from  the  life 
of  God,  I  am  a  child  of  wrath,  an  heir  of  hell ; 
that  my  own  works,  my  own  sufferings,  my  own 
righteousness,  are  so  far  from  reconciling  me  to 
an  offended  God,  so  far  from  making  any  atone¬ 
ment  for  the  least  of  those  sins,  which  are  more  in 
number  than  the  hairs  of  my  head,  that  the  most 
specious  of  them  need  an  atonement  themselves,  or 
they  cannot  abide  His  righteous  judgment;  that 
having  the  sentence  of  death  in  my  heart,  and 
having  nothing  in  or  of  myself  to  plead,  I  have  no 
hope,  but  that  of  being  justified  freely  ‘  through 
the  redemption  that  is  in  Jesus.’  I  have  no  hope 
but  that  if  I  seek  I  shall  find  Christ,  and  ‘  be  found 
in  him,  not  having  my  own  righteousness,  but  that 
which  is  through  the  faith  of  Christ:  the  right¬ 
eousness  which  is  of  God  by  faith.’ 


52 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


“  I  see  that  the  whole  law  of  God  is  holy,  just 
and  good.*  I  know  every  thought,  every  temper  of 
my  soul,  ought  to  bear  God’s  image  and  super¬ 
scription.  But  how  am  I  fallen  from  the  glory  of 
God !  I  feel  that  ‘  I  am  sold  under  sin.’  I  know 
that  I,  too,  deserve  nothing  but  wrath,  being  full 
of  all  abominations;  and  having  no  good  thing  in 
me,  to  atone  for  them  or  to  remove  the  wrath  of 
God.  All  my  works,  my  righteousness,  my  pray¬ 
ers,  need  an  atonement  for  themselves.  So  that 
my  mouth  is  stopped.  I  have  nothing  to  plead. 
God  is  holy;  I  am  unholy.  God  is  a  consum¬ 
ing  fire;  I  am  altogether  a  sinner,  meet  to  be 
consumed.” 

The  state  of  the  unsaved  soul  is  further  illus¬ 
trated  by  the  following  incident : 

A  brilliant  young  physician  came  up  to  an  evan¬ 
gelist  after  a  meeting  in  Kansas,  a  few  years  ago, 
and  said :  “  I  am  tied  to  my  mother’s  apron  strings. 
I  have  always  lived  up  to  her  teachings,  morally, 
and  I  pride  myself  on  the  fact  that  while  I  was 
away  in  the  medical  institution,  where  I  received 
high  honours,  I  kept  myself  clean.  I  do  not  pro¬ 
fess  to  be  a  Christian,  but  I  am  a  better  moral  man 
than  any  of  the  Church  members  of  this  city.” 
“  Doctor,”  the  evangelist  replied,  “  I  do  not  doubt 
you  for  an  instant,  but  I  want  your  attention. 
Unregeneracy  is  a  state.  You  have  not  been  re¬ 
generated,  have  you?  ”  He  replied,  “  No,  sir,  I  do 
not  claim  to  be  a  regenerated  man.”  They  were 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


53 


standing  together  in  ths  aisle,  and  the  evangelist, 
drawing  a  square  in  the  sawdust,  said :  “  Doctor, 
let  this  square  represent  the  State  of  Colorado.” 
He  said,  “  All  right.”  He  continued,  “  The  alti¬ 
tude  at  the  lowest  point  is  2,000  feet  above  the  sea 
level;  the  highest  altitude,  the  summit  of  Pike’s 
Peak,  is  14,200  feet  above  the  sea  level;  and 
there  are  people  in  the  Colorado  mines  who  are 
3,000  feet  below  the  lowest  altitude  in  the  State. 
Whether  they  are  in  the  mines,  on  the  lowest  alti¬ 
tude,  or  on  the  summit  of  Pike’s  Peak,  they  are  all 
in  the  State  of  Colorado.  Now  the  state  of  unre- 
generacy  is  like  that.  Some  men  are  away  down 
below  the  surface  in  the  underground  villainy  and 
criminality  of  flagrant  wickedness;  others  range 
about  the  ordinary  surfacing,  the  lowest  altitude  in 
the  state  of  unregeneracy ;  while  you  are  on  the 
summit  of  Mount  Morality;  but  you  are  all  in  the 
state  of  unregeneracy  ”  The  young  physician 
looked  at  the  evangelist  for  a  moment  in  dumb 
amazement,  and  then  said,  without  a  word  of  argu¬ 
ment — “  You  have  knocked  the  props  out  from 
under  me;  I  am  with  you!  ”  and  he  walked  down 
the  aisle  to  the  place  of  prayer,  where  he  publicly 
confessed  Jesus  Christ  as  his  personal  Saviour. 

Turning  now  to  Salvation,  what  are  its 
characteristics  ? 

It  is  a  salvation  that  has  God  for  its  author,  and 
originated  before  the  foundation  of  the  world. 
Eph.  1 : 4. 


54 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


It  is  a  salvation  that  found  is  necessity  in  man’s 
sin  and  his  lost  condition.  Rom.  3:23. 

It  is  a  salvation  that  provides  freedom  from  sin 
and  demands  holiness.  Rom.  6 :  22. 

It  is  a  salvation  that  is  of  faith  and  not  of 
works.  Eph.  2 :  8-9. 

It  is  an  uttermost  salvation.  Heb.  7:25. 

It  is  a  present  salvation  and  eternal. 

This  salvation  effects  the  sinner’s  conversion. 
Professor  James,  in  speaking  of  conversion,  says: 
“To  be  converted,  to  be  regenerated,  to  receive 
grace,  to  experience  religion,  to  gain  assurance, 
are  so  many  phrases  which  denote  the  process, 
gradual  or  sudden,  by  which  a  self  hitherto  di¬ 
vided,  and  consciously  wrong,  inferior  and  un- 
happy,  becomes  unified  and  consciously  right, 
superior  and  happy,  in  consequence  of  its  firmer 
hold  upon  religious  realities.”  Quoting  another 
eminent  writer,  Professor  James  records  his 
words  as  follows :  “  I  am  bold  to  say  that  the 
work  of  God  in  the  conversion  of  one  soul, 
considered  together  with  the  source,  founda¬ 
tion,  and  purchase  of  it,  and  also  the  benefit 
and  eternal  issue  of  it,  is  a  more  glorious  work 
of  God  than  the  creation  of  the  whole  material 
universe.” 

Conversion  from  a  Scriptural  standpoint  means 
being  “  born  again,”  John  3 : 3,  being  made  a 
“new  creature,”  2  Cor.  5:17,  Gal.  6:  15;  passing 
“  from  death  unto  life,”  John  5  :  24,  1  John  3:14; 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


55 


translation  from  the  power  of  darkness  into  the 
Kingdom  of  His  dear  Son,  Col.  1 :  13.  Wesley 
defines  it  as  “  that  great  change  which  God  works 
in  the  soul  when  He  brings  it  into  life ;  when  He 
raises  it  from  the  death  of  sin  to  the  life  of  right¬ 
eousness.  It  is  the  change  wrought  in  the  whole 
soul  by  the  Almighty  Spirit  of  God  when  it  is 
created  anew  in  Christ  Jesus;  when  it  is  renewed 
after  the  image  of  God  in  righteousness  and  true 
holiness.” 

This  is  further  enforced  by  John  Wesley’s  own 
experience.  When  converted,  on  the  night  of  May 
24,  1738,  he  says:  “I  felt  my  heart  strangely 
warmed.  I  felt  I  did  trust  in  Christ,  alone,  for  my 
salvation;  and  an  assurance  was  given  me,  that  he 
had  taken  away  my  sins,  even  mine,  and  saved  me 
from  the  law  of  sin  and  death;  and  I  then  testified 
openly  to  all  there  what  I  now  first  felt  in  my 
heart.” 

Eighteen  days  afterwards  he  preached  at  St. 
Mary’s,  Oxford,  a  sermon  from  the  text,  “  By 
grace  are  ye  saved,  through  faith,”  in  the  course 
of  which  he  said :  “  Eaith  is  a  full  reliance  on  the 
blood  of  Christ,  and  a  trust  in  the  merits  of  His 
life,  death,  and  resurrection — a  recumbency  upon 
Him  as  our  atonement  and  our  life,  as  given  for 
us  and  living  in  us;  and,  in  consequence  hereof,  a 
closing  with  Him  and  cleaving  to  Him  as  our 
wisdom,  righteousness,  sanctification,  redemption, 
or  in  one  word,  our  salvation.” 


56 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


Furthermore  this  Salvation  secures  to  the  be¬ 
lievers  the  experience  of  Full  Salvation. 

Flavel  has  said :  “  What  the  heart  is  to  the  body, 
that  the  soul  is  to  the  man,  and  what  health  is  to 
the  heart,  holiness  is  to  the  soul.” 

Holiness  is  health.  Holiness  is  wholeness. 
Holiness  is  cleansing.  Holiness  is  soundness. 
Holiness  is  happiness.  We  are  chosen  for  Holi¬ 
ness,  Eph.  1 : 4.  We  are  called  to  Holiness, 
2  Tim.  1:9.  We  are  commanded  to  be  holy, 
1  Pet.  2:16.  Again,  to  quote  John  Wesley,  we 
hear  him  say : 

“  When  I  began  to  make  the  Scriptures  my 
study  (about  seven  and  twenty  years  ago),  I 
began  to  see  that  Christians  are  called  to  love  God 
with  all  their  heart  and  to  serve  Him  with  all  their 
strength,  which  is  precisely  what  I  apprehend  is 
meant  by  the  scriptural  term  perfection.  After 
weighing  this  for  some  years,  I  openly  declared 
my  sentiments  on  the  Circumcision  of  the  Heart. 
About  six  years  after,  an  advice  I  received  from 
Bishop  Gibson,  *  Tell  all  the  world  what  you  mean 
by  perfection/  I  publish  my  coolest  and  latest 
thoughts  in  the  sermon  on  that  subject.  I  therein 
build  on  no  authority,  ancient  or  modern,  but  the 
Scripture.” 

“  But  none  can  attain  perfection  unless  they  first 
believe  it  is  attainable,  neither  do  I  affirm  this.  I 
knew  a  Calvinist  in  London  who  never  believed  it 
attainable  till  the  moment  she  did  attain  it;  and 


SIN  AND  SALVATION 


57 


then  lay  declaring  it  aloud  for  many  days,  till  her 
spirit  returned  to  God.” 

“  As  to  the  word  perfection,  it  is  Scriptural ; 
therefore,  neither  you  nor  I  can  in  conscience  ob¬ 
ject  to  it,  unless  we  would  send  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
school,  and  teach  him  to  speak  who  made  the 
tongue.” 

“  What  then  does  their  arguing  reprove,  who 
object  against  Christian  Perfection?  Absolute  or 
infallible  perfection  I  never  contended  for.  Sin¬ 
less  perfection  I  do  not  contend  for,  seeing  that  it 
is  not  Scriptural.  A  perfection,  such  as  enables  a 
person  to  fulfill  the  whole  law,  and  so  needs  not 
the  merits  of  Christ.  I  acknowledge  no  such 
perfection;  I  do  now,  and  always  did,  protest 
against  it.” 


V 


GOD’S  SKIES  ARE  FULL  OF 
PENTECOSTS 

I  stood  a  little  while  ago  on  the  hanks  and  watched 
the  great  Falls  of  Niagara  as  they  roared  and  tumbled 
and  pushed  on  zvith  a  momentum  marvelous,  and 
thought  of  the  power  at  work  there.  One  man  looking 
on  the  sight  one  day  exclaimed:  ec  There  is  the  greatest 
unused  power  in  the  world.”  A  Christian  man  replied, 
“No,  the  greatest  unused  power  on  earth  is  the  power 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.”  One  has  said,  “  The  gift  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  a  vital,  spiritual  pozver  which,  in  its  burn¬ 
ing  energy,  purifies  and  transforms  those  whom  it  pos¬ 
sesses,  and  fills  them  also  with  a  divine  anointing 
effectual  in  its  manifestations  to  the  regeneration  and 
transforming  of  many.” 

THE  Day  of  Pentecost  is  a  day  full  of  the 
most  vital  significance  because  it  commemo¬ 
rates  the  great  gift  when  the  Holy  Spirit 
was  outpoured  on  the  Apostles  and  members  of 
the  Church  at  Jerusalem.  Augustine  called  this 
day  the  “  dies  natalis  ”  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and 
said :  “  It  is  evident  that  the  present  dispensation 
under  which  we  are,  is  the  dispensation  of  the 
Spirit  of  the  Third  Person  of  the  Holy  Trinity. 
To  Him  in  the  divine  economy  has  been  committed 
the  office  of  applying  the  Redemption  of  the  Son 

58 


GOD’S  SKIES  FULL  OF  PENTECOSTS  59 


to  the  souls  of  men  by  the  vocation,  justification, 
and  salvation  of  the  elect.  We  are  therefore  under 
the  personal  guidance  of  the  Third  Person  as  the 
Apostles  were  under  the  guidance  of  the  Second.” 

Pentecost  was  God’s  greatest  gift  to  His  Church 
next  to  that  of  His  Son  and  His  atoning  work 
through  His  precious  blood  shed  upon  Calvary.  It 
was  an  event  effusive  and  diffusive.  The  lambent 
flame  gave  new  lustre  to  things  divine  and  lit  the 
torch  of  gospel  truth  to  lighten  ages  and  epochs 
and  peoples  and  nations.  The  Spirit  was  given  in 
power  and  fire  and  inflamed  and  energised  all  upon 
whom  He  fell.  There  swept  out  into  Jerusalem, 
into  Samaria,  into  the  regions  round  about,  into 
Greece  and  Rome,  flames  of  holy  fire  that  kindled 
revivals  whose  history  is  read  in  the  Acts  and 
Epistles,  and  which  have  been  repeated  since  in 
Luther’s  day  and  Wesley’s  and  Moody’s  and  In¬ 
skip’s  and  our  own. 

Pentecost  was  a  promise  fulfilled,  a  prayer  an¬ 
swered,  a  vision  realised,  a  power  bestowed,  a  fire 
kindled,  an  energy  set  free,  a  current  set  in  motion, 
a  river  set  flowing,  a  Spirit  sent  forth,  a  new  song 
and  joy  to  the  Church,  and  a  power  victorious. 

It  broke  upon  the  Church,  on  Sunday  morning, 
and  ever  since  Sunday  has  been  a  Day  Divine.  It 
broke  upon  the  preacher,  and  ever  since  the 
preacher  has  been  the  man  with  messages  that 
burn.  It  broke  upon  praying  believers,  and  ever 
since  prayer  has  been  a  means  wonderful.  It  broke 


60  GOD’S  SKIES  FULL  OF  PENTECOSTS 


upon  the  Church,  and  ever  since  the  Church  has 
been  the  House  of  Blessing,  and  the  scene  of  the 
Spirit’s  effusion.  Applied  to  the  truth,  pentecostal 
power  has  made  it  a  hammer  to  break  hard  hearts, 
a  sword  to  pierce  the  conscience,  a  fire  to  burn  out 
sin.  Applied  to  the  Church,  pentecostal  power  has 
made  it  a  place  of  healing  to  diseased  souls,  of  sal¬ 
vation  to  the  sinner,  of  peace  to  the  disconsolate, 
of  revelation  to  searchers  after  truth,  and  a  place 
of  vision. 

Pentecost  was  Christ’s  greatest  gift  to  the 
Church.  Its  fiery  tongues  lit  up  the  promises  of 
God,  burned  away  barriers,  and  purged  clean  the 
hearts  of  the  disciples.  It  made  Peter  a  preacher 
on  fire,  who  won  three  thousand  souls  in  one  ser¬ 
mon.  Pentecostal  fire  burned  in  Philip’s  heart,  and 
he  evangelised  Samaria.  It  burned  in  Stephen,  and 
with  firelit  face  he  prayed  for  those  who  stoned 
him.  It  turned  a  Saul  of  Tarsus  into  Paul,  the 
great  apostle,  and  pentecostal  fire  swept  in  to 
Athens  and  Corinth,  and  Ephesus,  and  burned  its 
way  to  the  Roman  throne,  and  thus  touched  all 
the  world. 

Pentecostal  fire  touched  Luther,  and  Protestant¬ 
ism  sprang  forth.  It  touched  the  Wesleys  and 
Whitefield,  and  they  sang  and  preached  and  prayed 
in  the  great  Revival  of  the  Centuries.  It  burned 
in  Edward’s  soul,  and  behold,  the  Great  Awaken¬ 
ing.  In  Moody,  and  Sankey,  and  lo,  a  new  evan¬ 
gelism.  In  Inskip,  and  Cookman,  in  Evan 


GOD’S  SKIES  FULL  OF  PENTECOSTS  61 


Roberts,  and  lo,  the  Welsh  revival,  in  Chapman 
and  Gypsy  Smith,  and  a  new  righteousness  sprang 
forth. 

“  God’s  skies  are  full  of  pentecosts,”  exclaimed 
Bishop  Warren.  Let  the  Church  of  today  seek  it, 
and  power  will  flow,  that  will  turn  weakness  into 
strength,  darkness  into  light,  sorrow  into  joy,  and 
defeat  into  victory. 

Rev.  Thomas  Waugh,  the  great  preacher, 
Evangelist  of  English  Methodism,  tells  how  he 
came  to  realise  his  Pentecost,  in  his  autobiography, 
thus :  “  I  saw  very  clearly  that  after  Pentecost 
those  early  Christians  had  a  fullness  of  Divine  life 
and  Power  to  which  I  was  a  stranger.  I  realised 
that  while  I  had  the  Spirit,  I  was  not  filled  with  the 
Spirit ;  that  I  had  welcomed  Him  as  guest,  but  not 
yet  as  host,  in  my  heart.  I  also  saw  that  this  glori¬ 
ous  fullness  was  as  much  for  poor  me  as  for  Peter, 
James  and  John.  In  New  Testament  plentitude, 
however,  the  Holy  Spirit  could  not  come  until 
Christ  had  ascended.  Until  He  was  glorified,  the 
Church  could  not  have  her  Pentecost;  and  what  is 
true  of  the  Church  is  true  of  the  individual  Chris¬ 
tian.  I  saw  that  some  of  my  ambitions  would  have 
to  perish,  but  I  could  hold  out  no  longer.  My 
whole  being  looked  up  to  God  and  said:  ‘  None  of 
self  and  all  for  Thee;  I  want  what  those  early 
Christians  got  at  Pentecost.  It  is  my  birthright  in 
Jesus,  and  for  me  as  for  them;  I  need  it  as  much 
as  they  did;  I  am  willing,  and  claim  and  trust.’  I 


62  GOD’S  SKIES  FULL  OF  PENTECOSTS 

shall  never  forget  that  hour.  There  was  no  joyous 
exultation  or  deep  inrush  of  emotion,  but  a  great 
calm.  I  kept  on  trusting;  then  the  signs  and  won¬ 
ders  of  my  longings,  hopes  and  prayers  began  to 
come.  Within  twenty  months  I  saw  1,800  souls 
led  to  Christ,  and  since  then  those  numbers  have 
reached  nearly  90,000  men,  women,  and  children.” 

The  paramount  lesson  of  Pentecost  is  obtained 
as  we  study  it  in  the  light  of  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
His  work.  We  might  well  ask  as  we  contemplate 
those  things :  Has  the  Holy  Spirit  that  place  in  the 
affairs  of  the  Church  and  ministry  that  He  should 
have  ?  Are  we  experiencing  His  power  as  did  our 
fathers?  Dr.  Daniel  Steele,  that  man  of  keen 
spiritual  vision  and  of  divinely  deep  experience  in 
the  “  deep  things  of  God,”  wrote  one  day  these 
words :  “  The  trend  of  modern  Protestantism  is 
towards  a  growing  feebleness  of  grasp  upon  the 
Holy  Spirit  as  a  reality,  and  a  practical  disuse  of 
this  source  of  spiritual  life  and  power.” 

The  Spirit  of  God  is  the  Spirit  of  Conviction. 
Stephen  Grellet,  that  extraordinary  man  of  the 
Quaker  Church,  was  brought  up  a  Roman  Catholic. 
Whilst  walking  along  the  Hudson  one  day  not 
thinking  of  serious  matters  he  was  suddenly  ar¬ 
rested  by  the  word :  “  Eternity,  Eternity,  Eter¬ 
nity,”  sounding  through  his  soul.  At  once  eternal 
things  became  real  to  him, — he  went  to  prayer  and 
ceased  not  till  he  found  pardon  at  the  cross.  It 
was  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord. 


GOD’S  SKIES  FULL  OF  PENTECOSTS  63 


The  Spirit  of  God  convicts  of  sin,  of  righteous¬ 
ness,  and  of  judgment  to  come.  He  shows  that 
self-righteousness  is  as  filthy  rags,  that  sinners 
must  be  stripped  of  every  false  hope,  they  must 
have  their  refuge  of  lies  destroyed,  they  must  see 
themselves  as  bankrupt  and  lost  before  God,  that 
there  is  no  hope  outside  the  Cross.  This  leads  to 
a  true  repentance  which  involves  hatred  of  sin, 
confession  of  sin  and  the  sincere  abandonment  of 
all  known  wrong. 

Touching  the  Spirit’s  work  in  regeneration  and 
saving  faith  Bishop  Moule  says :  “  The  Holy  Spirit 
is  the  Spirit  of  Faith.  He  leads  to  saving  faith. 
The  convicted  soul  must  will  to  believe,  he  must 
choose  to  believe,  he  must  determine  to  believe,  that 
4  Jesus  saves  me  now.’  ”  Dougan  Clarke,  that 
lucid  Quaker  writer,  has  said :  “  Faith  is  the  ac¬ 
ceptance  of  God’s  mercy  and  grace  in  Christ  Jesus. 
The  grace  of  faith  or  the  power  of  believing  is.  the 
gift  of  God.  ...  To  every  contrite  anxious  soul 
that  wills  to  believe  the  power  to  do  so  will  be 
given  by  the  Holy  Ghost.” 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  Witnessing  Spirit.  This 
was  one  of  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  Methodism, — 
the  witness  of  the  Spirit.  John  Wesley  defines  the 
witness  in  the  following  language :  “  By  the  testi¬ 
mony  of  the  Spirit  I  mean  an  inward  impression 
on  the  soul,  whereby  the  Spirit  of  God  immedi¬ 
ately  and  directly  witnesses  to  my  spirit  that  I  am 
a  child  of  God,  that  Jesus  Christ  hath  loved  me  and 


64  GOD’S  SKIES  FULL  OF  PENTECOSTS 


given  Himself  for  me,  that  all  my  sins  are  blotted 
out,  and  I,  even  I,  am  reconciled  to  God.  I  do  not 
mean  hereby  that  the  Spirit  of  God  testifies  this  by 
an  outward  voice.  No,  nor  always  by  an  in¬ 
ward  voice,  although  He  may  do  this  sometimes. 
Neither  do  I  suppose  that  He  always  applies  to  the 
heart  (although  He  often  may)  one  or  more  texts 
of  Scripture.  But  He  so  works  upon  the  soul  by 
His  immediate  influence  and  by  a  strong  though 
inexplicable  operation,  that  the  stormy  wind  and 
the  troubled  waves  subside,  and  there  is  a  sweet 
calm,  the  heart  resting  in  Jesus,  and  the  sinner  be¬ 
ing  clearly  satisfied  that  all  his  iniquities  are  for¬ 
given  and  his  sins  covered.” 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  Praying  Spirit.  Romans 
8 :  26.  “  Likewise  the  Spirit  also  helpeth  our  in¬ 

firmities,  for  we  know  not  what  we  should  pray 
for  as  we  ought,  but  the  Spirit  itself  maketh  inter¬ 
cession  for  us  with  groanings  which  cannot  be  ut¬ 
tered.”  “  The  blessed  Spirit  frameth  our  interces¬ 
sion  for  us  within,  His  prayer  is  an  inner  prayer 
within  our  prayer,  a  silent  Divine  voice  within  our 
voice,  the  soul  of  which  our  prayer  is  the  body  ” 
(Whedon).  The  Holy  Spirit  suggests  and 
prompts  prayer  in  the  believer’s  heart  and  accom¬ 
panies  it  with  a  corresponding  faith.  A  Christian 
lady  was  strongly  moved  to  pray  for  a  suffering 
friend.  She  went  to  her  room  and  poured  out  her 
heart  in  fervent  supplication.  Whilst  in  prayer  the 
thought  came  to  her,  “  Cannot  I  send  her  a  tele- 


GOD'S  SKIES  FULL  OF  PENTECOSTS  65 


gram  by  way  of  Heaven?”  “  and  in  full  faith” 
she  said,  “  I  asked  the  Lord  to  bring  this  passage 
to  her  mind :  t  As  one  whom  his  mother  comfort- 
eth  so  will  I  comfort  you.’  ”  In  a  few  days  word 
was  received  that  just  at  that  same  hour  the  “  tele¬ 
gram  ”  by  way  of  Heaven  reached  the  friend  in 
distress  and  she  was  sweetly  calmed  and  her 
mourning  brought  to  an  end. 

“  If  we  remain  constantly  surrendered  to  God, 
and  looking  to  Jesus,”  says  a  Quaker  writer,  “  He 
will  show  us  by  the  Holy  Spirit  when  and  how  to 
pray  the  true  prayer  of  faith,  and  this  is  praying 
in  the  Holy  Ghost.” 

The  Holy  Spirit  is  the  Baptismal  Spirit.  “  Ye 
shall  be  baptised  with  the  Holy  Ghost,”  said  Jesus. 
Dr.  Asa  Mahan,  in  his  great  work  on  the  Holy 
Spirit,  teaches  us  that  “  the  Holy  Spirit  having 
first  builded  us  for  a  habitation  of  God,  at  our  con¬ 
version,  then  proceeds  with  a  process  of  prepara¬ 
tion  and  sanctification  which  is  more  or  less 
gradual,  but  need  not  be  long,  and  when  this  is 
completed  if  we  are  consecrated  and  inquiring  of 
Him  to  do  it  for  us,  God  takes  possession  of  the 
temple,  in  His  glory  and  His  power,  by  the  baptism 
with  the  Holy  Ghost.” 

A  great  soul  winner  was  that  eminent  Christian, 
Professor  Tholuck,  of  Halle,  Germany,  many 
years  ago.  When  he  went  to  that  institution  infi¬ 
delity  was  rampant.  His  Christian  influence  was 
wonderful  upon  the  students.  He  won  hundreds 


66  GOD’S  SKIES  FULL  OF  PENTECOSTS 


of  them  to  Christ.  He  gave  the  secret  of  his 
power  in  these  words :  “  I  have  but  one  passion, 
and  that  is  Christ  and  Christ  alone.  All  my  suc¬ 
cess  has  been  owing  to  the  baptism  of  fire  which  I 
received  at  the  very  commencement  of  my  public 
career  and  to  the  principle  of  love  that  seeks  and 
follows.” 

Shortly  after  Charles  G.  Finney’s  conversion  he 
received  a  wonderful  baptism  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
This  it  was  which  endued  him  and  qualified  him 
for  that  marvelous  evangelistic  career  during 
which  he  stirred  the  whole  country  for  God.  Oh 
for  a  like  baptism !  “  We  have  our  instruments 

for  pulling  down  the  stronghold,  but  Oh,  for  the 
baptism  of  fire !  ”  cried  Rev.  W.  Arthur,  author  of 
“  The  Tongue  of  Fire.”  Dr.  Torrey  says:  “Re¬ 
ligious  biographies  abound  in  instances  of  men 
who  have  worked  along  as  best  they  could,  until 
one  day  they  were  led  to  see  that  there  was  such  an 
experience  as  the  baptism  with  the  Holy  Spirit  and 
to  seek  it  and  obtain  it,  and  from  that  hour,  there 
came  into  their  service  a  new  power  that  utterly 
transformed  its  character.”  Such  an  experience 
was  that  of  Dr.  A.  T.  Pierson  when  pastor  of  a 
large  Presbyterian  Church  in  Detroit.  He  saw  and 
sought  his  privilege  in  the  Spirit’s  Baptism.  He 
testified  thus :  “  For  sixteen  years  I  preached  the 
gospel  with  all  the  logic  and  rhetoric  I  could  com¬ 
mand.  The  results  were  disappointing.  An  un¬ 
tutored  evangelist  came  to  our  city.  Hundreds 


GOD’S  SKIES  FULL  OF  PENTECOSTS  67 


were  swept  into  the  kingdom  by  his  simple  story  of 
the  gospel.  Then  my  eyes  were  opened.  I  saw 
that  the  secret  of  his  power  lay  in  his  possession 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  After  praying  that  I  might 
receive  His  power,  it  came  on  me  November  15th. 
In  the  following  sixteen  months  I  made  more  con¬ 
verts  than  I  had  gained  in  the  previous  sixteen 
years.” 

A  very  eminent  Methodist  preacher,  scholar,  and 
saint,  said ;  “  I  made  the  discovery  that  I  was  living 
in  the  pre-pentecostal  state  of  religious  experience, 
admiring  Christ’s  character,  obeying  His  law,  and 
in  a  degree  loving  His  person,  but  without  the  con¬ 
scious  blessing  of  the  Comforter.  I  settled  the 
question  of  privilege  by  a  study  of  John’s  Gospel 
and  St.  Paul’s  Epistles  and  earnestly  sought  for  the 
Comforter.  I  prayed,  consecrated,  confessed  my 
state,  and  believed  Christ’s  word.  Very  suddenly, 
after  three  weeks’  diligent  search,  the  Comforter 
came  with  power  and  great  joy  to  my  heart.  He 
took  my  feet  out  of  the  road  of  doubt  and  weak¬ 
ness  and  planted  them  forever  on  the  rock  of 
assurance  and  strength.” 


VI 


double  portion  of  the  spirit 

“  Christianity,”  says  one,  “  is  nothing  if  it  he  not 
supernatural.”  Prayer  is  a  supernatural  power.  It  is 
one  of  the  great  potential  forces  of  the  kingdom.  We 
might  well  marvel  at  the  mystery  and  the  greatness  of 
its  power,  hut  “Mont  Blanc  does  not  become  a  phantom 
or  a  mist  because  a  climber  grows  dizzy  on  its  side.” 

Professor  William  James,  of  Harvard,  who  was  more 
eminent  as  a  Psychologist  than  as  a  Christian  believer, 
has  the  following  to  .jay  about  prayer:  “The  funda¬ 
mental  religious  point  is  that  in  prayer  spiritual  energy 
which  otherwise  would  slumber  does  become  active  and 
spiritual  work  of  some  kind  is  effected  really.” 

THE  measure  of  people’s  spirituality  may  be 
determined  by  the  spirit  of  their  praying 
and  the  nature  and  object  of  their  desire. 
A  story  is  told  of  John  Fletcher  that  having  done 
some  worthy  deed  to  one  of  England’s  aristocracy 
the  recipient  addressed  a  letter  of  gratitude  to 
Fletcher  and  at  the  same  time  requested  him  to 
name  what  he  wanted  in  return.  Fletcher’s  reply 
was  to  the  effect  that  there  was  but  one  thing  he 
needed  most  and  that  was  “  more  grace.}>  When 
we  recollect  what  a  man  of  God  Fletcher  was  we 
come  to  understand  why  he  preferred  more  grace 
to  all  that  earth  could  bestow.  In  this  Scripture 

68 


DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT  69 


we  are  assured  that  Elisha  was  a  man  of  God.  He 
shows  it  by  his  prayer.  As  his  master  Elijah  is 
about  to  leave  him  he  asks  not  for  wealth — Elijah 
had  none  to  give  him.  Nor  does  he  request 
earthly  honours, — -these  Elijah  had  none  to  be¬ 
stow  ;  but  Elisha  desires  but  one  thing— A  spiritual 
endoivment. 

Let  us  learn  a  few  lessons  concerning  the  Spirit’s 
enduement. 

1.  That  a  double  portion  of  the  Spirit  is  the 
special  privilege  of  all  God’s  children.  Deut. 
21:17  tells  us  that  the  first-born  son  had  a  right 
to  a  double  portion.  There  is  a  sense  in  which  all 
who  are  born  of  God  have  the  same  prerogative. 
Certain  it  is  that  every  Christian  has  the  Spirit’s 
portion  in  pardon  and  adoption.  He  may  have  the 
Spirit’s  double  portion  in  entire  cleansing  and  bap¬ 
tism  of  power. 

2.  The  double  portion  of  the  Spirit  is  required 
to  meet  the  double  effect  of  sin  and  transgression. 
Isaiah  1:18  intimates  that  sinners  are  double  dyed 
— a  figure  borrowed  possibly  from  the  ancient  cus¬ 
tom  of  dyeing  an  article  twice ,  dyeing  it  first,  then 
drying  it,  then  dyeing  it  the  second  time.  So  is  the 
case  of  every  man.  He  is  double-dyed  in  sin,  born 
in  sin,  and  with  sin,  and  then  a  sinner  by  actual 
transgression  and  practices.  The  double  portion — 
the  double  work  is  therefore  needed  to  meet  the 
sad  necessities  of  the  case.  In  justification  the  soul 
is  pardoned  and  cleansed  of  its  actual  transgres- 


70  DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT 


sions;  in  sanctification  it  is  cleansed  from  its  in¬ 
dwelling  sin.  By  the  grace  and  experience  of  holi¬ 
ness  we  mean  “  That  renewal  of  our  fallen  nature 
by  the  Holy  Ghost  whereby  we  are  washed  entirely 
from  sin’s  pollution,  freed  from  its  power  and  are 
enabled  through  grace  to  love  God  with  all  our 
hearts  and  to  walk  in  His  holy  Commandments 
blameless.” 

3.  The  Spirit’s  double  portion  is  the  best  quali¬ 
fication  for  Christian  work  and  service. 

The  effect  of  the  Spirit’s  outpouring  upon  Chris¬ 
tian  workers  has  the  following  characteristics: 

(a)  Promotes  Prayerfulness. 

Charles  Wesley  puts  the  plea  for  the  praying 
spirit  in  beautiful  form  when  he  sang, 

“  Come  in  thy  pleading  Spirit  down 
To  us  who  for  thy  coming  stay; 

Of  all  thy  gifts  we  ask  but  one, 

We  ask  the  constant  power  to  pray; 

Indulge  us,  Lord,  in  this  request, 

Thou  canst  not  then  deny  the  rest.” 

“  The  constant  power  to  pray  ”  certainly  may  be 
put  in  the  category  of  the  “  best  gifts  ”  which  Paul 
urges  us  to  covet. 

“  Satan  trembles  when  he  sees 
The  weakest  saint  upon  his  knees.” 

And  well  he  might  because  the  prayerful  soul 
brings  Heaven  and  earth  together,  pulls  down 
power  from  the  skies,  obtains  promises,  brings 
things  to  pass. 


DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT  71 


Commissioner  McKie,  of  the  Salvation  Army, 
used  to  spend  his  Saturday  nights  in  prayer  and 
his  success  as  a  soul  saver  was  marvelous.  Bram- 
well,  the  great  saint,  spent  six  hours  a  day. 

“  Christianity,”  says  one,  “  is  nothing  if  it  be 
not  supernatural.”  Prayer  is  a  supernatural  power. 
It  is  one  of  the  great  potential  forces  of  the  King¬ 
dom.  We  might  well  marvel  at  the  mystery  and 
the  greatness  of  its  power,  but  “  Mont  Blanc  does 
not  become  a  phantom  or  a  mist  because  a  climber 
grows  dizzy  on  its  side.” 

Professor  William  James,  of  Harvard,  who  was 
more  eminent  as  a  Psychologist  than  as  a  Christian 
believer,  has  the  following  to  say  about  prayer  : 
“  The  fundamental  religious  point  is  that  in  prayer 
spiritual  energy  which  otherwise  would  slumber 
does  become  active  and  spiritual  work  of  some 
kind  is  effected  really.”  Truly  “  spiritual  work  of 
some  kind  is  effected  really  in  prayer.” 

Let  Jacob  speak  and  he  will  tell  of  victory  at  the 
brook  Jabbok;  let  Moses  speak  and  he  will  tell  of 
mighty  manifestations  of  God;  let  Hannah  speak 
and  she  will  tell  of  joy  born  at  the  altar  of  prayer; 
let  Elijah  testify  and  he  will  tell  of  fire  and  flood; 
let  Daniel  speak  and  he  will  tell  that  unceasing 
prayer  brought  deliverance  even  in  the  lion’s  den; 
let  Peter  and  Paul  testify  and  they  will  tell  how 
prayer  opened  prison  doors  and  brought  visions  of 
God;  let  Luther  speak  and  he  will  tell  of  prayer 
that  brought  on  a  reformation;  let  George  Mueller 


72  DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT 


speak  and  he  will  tell  of  houses  and  lands,  and  food 
and  clothing,  for  thousands  of  orphans,  all  in  an¬ 
swer  to  prayer;  let  J.  Hudson  Taylor,  of  China, 
Wm.  Carey,  of  India,  and  Bishop  Wm.  Taylor,  the 
World  Missionary,  speak,  and  they  will  tell  of 
countries  and  continents  victoriously  contested  for 
the  Kingdom  of  God.  “  Prayer  makes  the  dark¬ 
ened  clouds  withdraw.  Prayer  climbs  the  ladder 
Jacob  saw;  gives  exercise  to  faith  and  love,  brings 
every  blessing  from  above.  Prayer  keeps  the 
Christian’s  armour  bright,  and  Satan  trembles 
when  he  sees  the  weakest  saint  upon  his  knees.” 

4.  The  Double  Portion  begets  Courage  and  Holy 
Passion. 

The  Spirit’s  enduement  makes  the  weak  strong, 
the  timid  courageous.  It  changed  a  vacillating, 
cringing  Simon  into  a  Peter  the  apostle  and  the 
mighty  spokesman  of  the  Pentecost.  It  delivers 
from  fear  of  faces,  consequences,  appearances.  Its 
only  consideration  is,  What  does  God  think  and 
say?  What  does  He  require  me  to  do?  The  bap¬ 
tism  of  the  Spirit  is  a  baptism  of  non-conformity 
to  this  old  wicked  world  and  its  customs.  It  is 
that  which  if  a  man  has  he  ceases  “  pouring  the 
waters  of  concession  into  the  bottomless  buckets 
of  expediency.” 

Emerson  craved  what  we  believe  the  Spirit’s 
baptism  bestows,  when  he  wrote :  “We  must  be 
baptised  again  into  the  Spirit  of  non-conformity, 
of  intellectual  and  moral  honesty,  the  Spirit  which 


DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT  73 


does  not  suffer  men  to  go  with  the  crowd  when 
reason  and  conscience  and  a  living  God  bid  them 
go  alone.”  We  may  well  pray  against  “  those  dead 
calms,  that  flat  and  hopeless  lull,  in  which  the  dull 
sea  rots  around  the  helpless  bark.” 

One  has  said,  “  No  heart  is  pure  that  is  not  pas¬ 
sionate,  no  virtue  is  safe  that  is  not  enthusiastic.” 
And  another  has  written  “  Nothing  great  is  pos¬ 
sible  in  this  world  without  that  white  heat  of  en¬ 
thusiasm  which  makes  the  world  consider  the 
saints  mad.”  And  yet  another  has  uttered  a  great 
truth  in  saying,  “  God’s  magnet  is  a  man  electrified 
by  the  Spirit  of  God.”  Such  were  the  apostles,  the 
men  who  “  turned  the  world  upside  down,”  and 
Luther,  who  said  of  himself,  ‘  I  am  rough,  boister¬ 
ous,  stormy  and  altogether  warlike  ” ;  and  the  Wes¬ 
leys  whom  the  Bishop  of  London  called  “  young 
raw  heads.”  William  Lloyd  Garretson  said,  “  The 
world  is  full  of  careful  people  who  are  sinking  into 
unremembered  graves,  while  here  and  there  a  man 
forgets  himself  into  immortality.” 

5.  The  Double  Portion  Produces  Unworldliness. 

“  Be  ye  holy  in  all  manner  of  conversation.”  It 
was  the  prayer  of  McCheyne,  of  Dundee,  “  O  God, 
make  me  as  holy  as  a  pardoned  sinner  can  be 
made.”  The  Christian  is  not  of  this  world,  nor  of 
the  things  in  it.  The  difference  between  a  worldly 
professor  of  religion  and  a  real  professor  may  be 
judged  from  the  following  incident  told  by  Mr. 
Finney : 


74  DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT 


“  In  my  early  Christian  life  I  heard  a  Meth¬ 
odist  bishop  from  the  South  report  a  case  that 
made  a  deep  impression  on  my  mind.  He  said 
there  was  in  his  neighbourhood  a  slaveholder,  a 
gentleman  of  fortune,  who  was  a  gay  and  agree¬ 
able  man,  and  gave  himself  to  various  field  sports 
and  amusements.  He  used  to  associate  much 
with  his  pastor,  often  invite  him  to  dinner,  and 
to  accompany  him  in  his  sports  and  pleasure¬ 
seeking  excursions  of  various  kinds.  The  minister 
cheerfully  complied  with  these  requests ;  and  a 
friendship  grew  up  between  the  parishioner  that 
continued  till  the  last  sickness  of  this  gay  and 
wealthy  man. 

“  When  the  wife  of  this  worldling  was  apprised 
that  her  husband  could  live  but  a  short  time  she 
was  much  alarmed  for  his  soul,  and  tenderly  in¬ 
quired  if  she  should  not  call  in  their  minister  to 
converse  and  pray  with  him.  He  feelingly  replied, 
‘No,  my  dear;  he  is  not  the  man  for  me  to  see 
now.  He  was  my  companion,  as  you  know,  in 
worldly  sports  and  pleasure-seeking ;  he  loves  good 
dinners  and  a  jolly  time.  I  then  enjoyed  his  so¬ 
ciety  and  found  him  a  pleasant  companion.  But  I 
see  now  that  I  never  had  any  real  confidence  in  his 
piety,  and  have  now  no  confidence  in  the  efficacy  of 
his  prayers.  I  am  a  dying  man,  and  need  the  in¬ 
struction  and  prayers  of  somebody  that  can  prevail 
with  God.  We  have  been  much  together,  but  our 
pastor  has  never  been  serious  with  me  about  the 


DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT  75 


salvation  of  my  soul  and  he  is  not  the  man  to  help 
me  now.’ 

“  The  wife  was  greatly  affected,  and  said: 

‘  What  shall  I  do  then  ?  5  He  replied,  ‘  My  coach¬ 
man,  Tom,  is  a  pious  man.  I  have  confidence  in 
his  prayers.  I  have  often  overheard  him  pray, 
when  about  the  barn  or  stables,  and  his  prayers 
have  always  struck  me  as  being  quite  sincere  and 
earnest.  I  never  heard  any  foolishness  from  him. 
He  has  always  been  honest  and  earnest  as  a  Chris¬ 
tian  man.  Call  him.’  Tom  was  called,  and  came, 
within  the  door,  dropping  his  hat  and  looking  ten¬ 
derly  and  compassionately  at  his  dying  master. 
The  dying  man  put  forth  his  hand,  saying:  ‘  Come, 
here,  Tom.  Take  my  hand.  Tom,  can  you  pray 
for  your  dying  master?  ’  Tom  poured  out  his  soul 
in  earnest  prayer.” 

6.  The  Double  Portion  produces  the  utmost  de¬ 
votion  to  God. 

The  soul  filled  with  God’s  Holy  Spirit  is  wholly 
devoted  to  Him.  Paul  was  happy  to  be  counted 
one  of  the  Lord’s  “  slaves.”  Bishop  Taylor 
counted  it  joy  to  turn  away  from  ease  and  comfort 
and  face  danger  and  hardship  anywhere  for  God. 
Dr.  Keen  for  love  of  God  and  souls  brought  him¬ 
self  perhaps  to  a  premature  grave,  and  God  has 
had  His  saints  in  all  ages  who  have  denied 
themselves,  sacrificed  themselves,  and  given  them¬ 
selves  whole-souled  and  exclusively  to  God  and 
His  cause. 


76  DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT 


7.  Produces  the  best  results. 

The  soul  filled  with  the  Spirit  of  God  is  more 
fruitful,  more  successful,  more  prosperous,  as  a 
consequence.  This  is  particularly  true  concerning 
the  ministry.  Let  the  preacher  receive  the  baptism 
of  the  Spirit,  and  at  once  the  results  of  his  labours 
become  more  abundant  and  more  blessed.  “  Where 
the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  liberty.”  So 
where  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  there  is  power  and 
where  power  is  there  are  results  well  pleasing 
to  God. 

A  prominent  Bishop  some  years  ago  said:  “If 
need  be,  I  would  stop  every  item  of  machinery  in 
the  Church,  our  colleges,  seminaries  and  printing 
presses;  yes,  I  would  stop  all  our  missionaries  in 
the  field,  all  our  bishops,  editors,  pastors,  teachers 
and  agents,  everything — until  we  receive  the  bap¬ 
tism  of  the  Holy  Spirit.” 

It  is  fire  that  we  need!  The  fire  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  baptism.  The  Salvation  Army  in  one  of 
their  songs  sing  thus : 

“  God  of  Elijah,  hear  our  cry, 

Send  the  fire ! 

He’ll  make  us  fit  to  live  or  die. 

Send  the  Fire. 

To  burn  up  every  trace  of  sin. 

To  bring  the  light  and  glory  in, 

The  revolution  now  begin, 

Send  the  Fire  !  ” 

“  Thou  Christ  of  burning,  cleansing  flame. 

Send  the  fire ! 


DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  TPIE  SPIRIT  77 


Thy  blood-bought  gift  today  we  claim, 

Send  the  fire ! 

Look  down  and  see  this  waiting  host; 

Send  us  the  promised  Holy  Ghost, 

We  want  another  Pentecost. 

Send  the  fire  !  ” 

HOW  TO  OBTAIN  THE  DOUBLE  PORTION 

Perhaps  we  cannot  answer  that  question  better 
than  by  quoting  once  again  from  Dr.  Daniel  Steele. 
In  the  following  testimony  he  tells  how  the  Spirit 
fell  on  him  and  how  he  received  the  Double 
Portion : 

“  I  was  led  to  seek  the  conscious  and  joyful 
presence  of  the  Comforter  in  my  heart.  Having 
settled  the  question  that  this  was  not  merely  an 
apostolic  blessing,  but  for  all  ages,  4  he  shall  abide 
with  you  forever/  I  took  the  promise,  4  Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  whatsoever  ye  shall  ask  the 
Father  in  My  name,  He  will  give  it  you/  The 
‘verily3  had  to  me  all  the  strength  of  an  oath. 
Out  of  the  4  whatsoever 3  I  took  all  temporal  bless¬ 
ings,  not  because  I  did  not  believe  them  to  be  in¬ 
cluded,  but  because  I  was  not  then  seeking  them. 
I  then  wrote  my  own  name  in  the  promise,  not  to 
exclude  others,  but  to  be  sure  that  I  included  my¬ 
self.  Then  writing  underneath  these  words,  4  To¬ 
day  is  the  day  of  salvation/  I  found  that  my  faith 
had  three  points  to  master :  the  Comforter — for  me 
— now.  Upon  the  promise  I  ventured  with  an  act 
of  appropriating  faith,  claiming  the  Comforter  as 


78  DOUBLE  PORTION  OF  THE  SPIRIT 


my  right,  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  For  several  hours 
I  clung  by  naked  faith,  praying  and  repeating 
Charles  Wesley’s, 

“f  Jesus,  Thine  all-victorious  love 
Shed  in  my  heart  abroad.’ 

“  I  then  ran  over  in  my  mind  the  great  facts  in 
Christ’s  life,  especially  dwelling  upon  Gethsemane 
and  Calvary,  His  ascension,  priesthood,  and  all- 
atoning  sacrifice.  Suddenly  I  became  conscious  of 
a  mysterious  power  exerting  itself  upon  my  sensi¬ 
bilities.  My  physical  sensations,  though  not  of  a 
nervous  temperament,  in  good  health,  alone  and 
calm,  were  like  those  of  electric  sparks  passing 
through  my  bosom  with  slight  painless  shocks, 
melting  my  hard  heart  into  a  fiery  stream  of  love. 
Christ  became  so  unspeakably  precious  that  I  in¬ 
stantly  dropped  all  earthly  good, — reputation,  prop¬ 
erty,  friends,  family,  everything — in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye.  My  soul  crying  out : 

“  None  but  Christ  to  me  be  given, 

None  but  Christ  in  earth  or  heaven.’  ” 


VII 


“  DEEPER  YET !  ” 

Mrs.  Edwards,  zvife  of  President  Edwards ,  sought 
and  obtained  what  she  called  “  the  full  assurance  of 
faith ”  and  what  Methodists  call  “perfect  love  ”  or 
“holiness”  and  then  gives  her  glowing  experience  in 
the  following  language:  “I  cannot  find  language  to 
express  how  certain  the  everlasting  love  of  God  ap¬ 
peared;  the  everlasting  mountains  and  hills  were  but 
shadoivs  to  it.  My  safety  and  happiness ,  and  eternal 
enjoyment  of  God's  immutable  love  seemed  as  durable 
and  unchangeable  as  God  Himself.  .  .  .  My  soul  re¬ 
mained  in  a  heavenly  elysium.  It  was  a  pure  delight 
which  fed  and  satisfied  my  soul.” 

WHEN  I  was  up  on  the  battlefields  of 
France  and  my  regiment  was  going  in 
towards  the  front  I  had  some  experiences 
in  the  dugouts  on  the  St.  Mihiel  and  Argonne 
fronts.  We  did  not  have  to  make  those  dugouts, 
however, — the  Germans  did  that, — and  all  we  had 
to  do  was  to  occupy  them  as  we  came  up  to  them. 
Some  of  those  dugouts  were  great  affairs,  deep  and 
immense.  When  I  got  down  into  one  of  them 
when  night  came  on  I  felt  almost  as  comfortable 
as  one  could  feel  out  in  the  S.  O.  S.  No  matter 
how  much  we  may  be  shelled  during  the  night  or 
how  heavy  the  shells  might  be  that  the  enemy  put 

79 


80 


‘‘DEEPER  YET!” 


across  they  could  hardly  penetrate  those  great  Ger¬ 
man  dugouts  constructed  as  they  were  of  iron  and 
cement  and  built  with  the  idea  of  standing  the 
heaviest  artillery  attacks.  Now,  often  in  those 
dugouts  the  Lord  would  preach  to  me  from  the 
text  found  in  Jer.  49 : 30,  “  Dwell  deep.”  Many 
a  time  was  a  sermon  preached  to  me  on  dwelling 
deep  in  God ,  and  I  find  in  these  days  as  I  go 
through  the  land  preaching  in  the  camp-meetings 
the  great  need  of  a  deeper  work  among  God’s 
people.  In  many  places  things  are  very  superficial, 
there  is  no  depth  of  devotion  or  piety.  There  has 
been  much  reliance  upon  organisation,  plans,  etc., 
(and  much  dependence  on  great  preaching) ;  there 
is  not  sufficient  humility  of  soul,  that  clinging  to 
God,  that  fervency  of  spirit,  that  glowing  love,  that 
urgency  of  prayer,  that  deepness  of  piety  which 
ought  to  characterise  the  people  of  God. 

We  stand  in  need  of  going  deeper  yet!  I  do 
not  wish  now  to  cast  any  reflection  on  the  work 
of  God  already  done  in  the  soul  in  pardon  and 
purity  and  holiness.  We  must  continually  praise 
God  for  these  things,  but  I  am  constrained  to  be¬ 
lieve  that  many  forget  that  the  holy  life  is  a  pro¬ 
gressive  life  and  that  if  we  do  not  progress  in 
holiness  we  shall  retrograde  and  drop  back  into 
formality,  into  a  dry  profession  and  into  a  stale 
experience.  We  need  to  have  more  experiences 
such  as  Evan  Roberts,  of  the  Wales  Revival,  had. 
He  says : 


‘‘DEEPER  YET!” 


81 


“For  a  long  time  I  was  much  troubled  in  my 
soul  by  thinking  of  the  failures  of  Christianity. 
Oh !  it  seemed  such  a  failure — such  a  failure — and 
I  prayed  and  prayed,  but  nothing  seemed  to  give 
me  any  relief.  But  one  night,  after  I  had  been  in 
great  distress  praying  about  this,  I  went  to  sleep, 
and  at  one  o’clock  in  the  morning  suddenly  I  was 
waked  up  out  of  my  sleep  and  I  found  myself  with 
unspeakable  awe,  in  the  very  presence  of  God. 
And  for  the  space  of  four  hours  I  was  privileged 
to  speak  face  to  face  with  Him  as  a  man  speaks 
face  to  face  with  a  friend.  At  five  o’clock  it 
seemed  to  me  as  if  I  had  returned  to  earth  again. 
And  it  was  not  only  that  morning,  but  every  morn¬ 
ing  for  three  or  four  months.  Always  I  enjoyed 
four  hours  of  that  wonderful  communion  with 
God.  I  cannot  describe  it.  I  felt  it  and  it  seemed 
to  change  my  whole  nature,  and  I  saw  things  in  a 
different  light,  and  I  knew  that  God  was  going  to 
work  in  the  land,  and  not  this  land  only,  but  the 
whole  world.” 

The  holy  Bramwell  of  early  Methodism,  who 
seemed  always  going  farther  up  into  the  delectable 
mountains  of  God,  wrote  once  these  words:  “Jus¬ 
tification  is  great,  to  be  cleansed  is  great ;  but  what 
is  justified  or  the  being  cleansed  when  compared 
with  this  being  taken  into  Himself?  The  world, 
the  noise  of  self,  all  is  gone;  and  the  mind  bears 
the  full  stamp  of  God’s  image.  Here  you  talk  and 
walk  and  live,  doing  all  in  Him  and  to  Plim.  Con- 


82 


“DEEPER  YET!” 


tinual  prayer  and  burning  all  into  Christ,  in  every 
house,  in  every  company,  all  things  by  Him,  from 
Him,  and  to  Him.  If  things  grow  slack,  Satan 
suggests  ‘  Nothing  can  be  done.’  I  answer,  much 
may  be  done !  Plowing,  sowing,  weeding,  pruning 
may  be  done;  and  these  will  give  us  hope  of  a 
blessed  harvest.  Go  on,  do  all  in  love ;  but  go  on ; 
never  grow  weary  in  well  doing.” 

I  carry  with  me  in  my  travels  an  old  John  Wes¬ 
ley  hymn  book  which  I  ever  and  anon  read  with 
prayerful  delight.  (In  our  present  hymnal  some 
of  Wesley’s  best  hymns  are  omitted,  I  am  sorry 
to  say.)  Let  us  listen  whilst  Charles  Wesley 
sings : 


“  Now  then,  my  God,  thou  hast  my  soul 
No  longer  mine,  but  thine  I  am ; 

Guard  thou  thine  own,  possess  it  whole, 

Cheer  it  with  hope,  with  love  inflame; 

Thou  hast  my  spirit,  there  display 
Thy  glory  to  the  perfect  day.” 

John  Wesley,  at  one  time,  was  requested  to  give 
his  testimony  or  experience  up  to  the  present  mo¬ 
ment.  It  is  well  known  that  Wesley  was  very 
laconic;  he  was  short  and  terse  and  crisp.  This 
was  the  testimony  he  gave : 

“Jesus,  confirm  my  heart’s  desire, 

To  work  and  speak  and  think  for  Thee; 

Still  let  me  guard  the  holy  fire 
And  still  stir  up  Thy  gift  in  me. 


“DEEPER  YET!” 


88 


“  Ready  for  all  Thy  perfect  will. 

My  acts  of  faith  and  love  repeat, 

Till  death  Thy  endless  mercies  seal, 

And  make  the  sacrifice  complete.” 

Again  we  hear  Charles  Wesley  break  out  in 
ardent  desire: 

“  Eager  for  Thee  I  ask  and  pant, 

So  strong  the  principle  divine, 

Carries  me  out  with  sweet  constraint 
Till  all  my  hallowed  soul  is  Thine, 

Plunged  in  the  Godhead’s  deepest  sea, 

And  lost  in  Thine  immensity. 

“  Come  then,  my  God,  mark  out  Thine  heir. 

Of  heaven  a  deeper  earnest  give; 

With  clearer  light  Thy  witness  bear, 

More  sensibly  within  me  live; 

Let  all  my  powers  Thine  entrance  feel, 

And  deeper  stamp  Thyself  the  seal. 

“  Thee  let  me  drink,  and  thirst  no  more 
For  drops  of  finite  happiness; 

Spring  up,  O  well,  in  heavenly  power, 

In  streams  of  pure  perennial  peace; 

In  joy  that  none  can  take  away, 

In  life  which  shall  forever  stay.” 

We  are  in  a  time  and  age  when  the  tendency  is 
towards  the  unreal,  the  transitory,  the  superficial, 
and  we  are  alarmed  at  the  growing  superficiality  of 
the  religious  and  so-called  spiritual  people.  Many 
are  resting  in  past  experiences.  They  seldom 
testify  to  some  new  experiences  and  developments 
in  the  spiritual  realm.  Many  are  effervescent, — 


84? 


“DEEPER  YET!” 


they  can  shout  and  cry,  and  carry  on,  but  there 
is  no  depth  of  spiritual  life  and  power,  and  their 
prayer  life  is  very  deficient.  I  feel  what  we  want 
all  along  the  line  is  a  breaking  up  before  the  Lord 
— a  humbling  of  ourselves. 

That  great  evangelist,  Charles  G.  Finney,  used 
to  say  that  he  needed  frequent  breakings  up  in  his 
soul — if  he  went  very  long  without  it  he  would  go 
dry;  he  said:  “  Unless  I  had  the  spirit  of  prayer  I 
could  do  nothing.  If  even  for  a  day  I  lost  the 
spirit  of  grace  and  supplication,  I  found  myself 
unable  to  preach  with  power  and  efficiency  or  to 
win  souls  by  personal  conversations.  I  found  my¬ 
self  so  borne  down  with  the  weight  of  immortal 
souls  that  I  was  constrained  to  pray  without  ceas¬ 
ing.  I  cannot  tell  how  absurd  unbelief  seemed  to 
me  and  how  certain  it  was  in  my  mind  that  God 
would  answer  prayer — those  prayers  that  from  day 
to  day  and  hour  to  hour  I  found  myself  offering  in 
such  agony  and  faith.  My  impression  was  that  the 
answer  was  near,  even  at  the  door.” 

An  eminent  writer  of  long  ago  asks,  “  What  is 
the  remedy  for  this  fitful,  periodic  piety,  this  dis¬ 
graceful  alternation  of  revival  and  declension,  of 
foaming  fulness  and  fitful  dribble  of  August 
drought?  Did  God  decree  that  His  people  should 
run  low  like  summer  brooks,  and  is  this  the  normal 
condition  of  the  Church  which  Christ  redeemed 
unto  Himself?  Is  there  not  a  divine  fulness  which 
can  keep  a  believer  always  full  to  the  brim,  and 


“DEEPER  YET!” 

t 


85 


can  make  the  Church  as  steady  in  its  flow  as  the 
majestic  currents  of  Niagara  ?” 

Now  it  must  be  admitted  that  we  have  in  our 
days  a  good  deal  of  “  foaming  fulness  and  fitful 
dribble  of  August  drought/’  and  I  have  found 
some  of  it  right  in  among  our  holiness  people.  We 
need  to  recognize  it,  not  deny  it,  where  it  exists, 
and  then  proceed  against  it  by  striking  new  wells 
of  water  and  tapping  anew  the  boundless  resources 
of  grace.  We  need  to  be  on  the  stretch  for  the 
“  deeper  yet”  blessing;  deeper  into  love,  power, 
unction  and  the  deeper  things  of  God. 

A  very  devout  writer  on  the  deeper  life  has  set 
forth  the  following  symptoms  of  a  declining  state 
of  spirituality.  It  might  be  profitable  to  test  out 
our  experience  at  times  by  recollecting  them.  They 
are  as  follows: 

1.  When  you  grow  bolder  with  sin,  or  with 
temptations  to  sin  than  you  were  in  your  more 
watchful  state — then  be  sure  something  is  wrong. 

2.  When  you  make  a  small  matter  of  those  sins 
and  infirmities  which  once  seemed  grievous  to  you 
and  almost  intolerable. 

3.  When  you  settle  down  to  a  course  of  religion 
that  gives  you  but  little  labour,  and  leave  out  the 
hard  and  costly  part. 

4.  When  your  God  and  Saviour  grows  a  little 
strange  to  you,  and  your  religion  consists  in  con¬ 
versing  with  men  and  their  books  and  not  with 
God  and  His  Book. 


86 


“DEEPER  YET!” 


5.  When  you  delight  more  in  hearing  and  talk¬ 
ing,  than  in  secret  prayer  and  the  Word. 

6.  When  you  use  the  means  of  grace  more  as  a 
matter  of  duty,  than  as  food  in  which  your  soul 
delights. 

7.  When  you  regard  too  much  the  eye  of  man, 
and  too  little  the  eye  of  God. 

8.  When  you  grow  hot  and  eager  about  some 
disputed  point,  or  in  forwarding  the  interests  of 
some  party  of  Christians,  more  than  about  those 
matters  which  concern  the  great  cause  of  Christ. 

9.  When  you  grow  harsh  and  bitter  towards 
those  who  differ  from  you,  instead  of  feeling 
tenderly  towards  all  who  love  Christ. 

10.  When  you  make  light  of  preparing  for  the 
Lord’s  Day,  and  the  Lord’s  Table,  and  think 
more  of  outward  ordinances  than  you  do  of  heart 
work. 

11.  When  the  hopes  of  heaven  and  the  love  of 
God  do  not  interest  you,  but  you  are  thirsting  after 
some  worldly  enjoyment  and  grow  eager  for  it. 

12.  When  the  world  grows  sweeter  to  you  and 
death  and  eternity  are  distasteful  subjects. 

In  Madame  Guy  on’s  life  she  tells  us  of  a  point 
in  her  experience  where  she  lost  all  “  created  sup¬ 
ports  ”  and  fell  into  “  the  pure  divine.”  She 
writes  thus :  “  When  I  had  lost  all  created  supports, 
and  even  divine  ones,  I  then  found  myself  happily 
compelled  to  fall  into  the  pure  divine,  and  to  fall 
into  it  through  all  those  very  things  which  seemed 


“DEEPER  YET!” 


87 


to  remove  me  farther  from  it.  In  losing  all  the 
gifts  with  all  its  supports  I  found  the  Giver.  In 
losing  the  sense  and  perception  of  Thee  in  myself, 
I  found  Thee,  O  my  God,  to  lose  Thee  no  more  in 
Thyself,  in  Thine  own  immutability.  O  poor 
creatures,  who  pass  all  your  time  in  feeding  upon 
the  gifts  of  God  and  think  therein  to  be  the  most 
favoured  and  happy,  how  I  pity  you  if  you  stop 
here  short  of  the  true  rest  and  cease  to  go  forward 
to  God  Himself.” 

Madame  Guyon  here  touches  on  that  aspect  of 
Christian  experience  of  which  Wesley  sings: 

“  Thy  gifts  alone  will  not  suffice, 

O  let  Thyself  be  given; 

Thy  presence  makes  my  Paradise, 

And  where  Thou  art  is  Heaven.” 

One  has  said,  “  There  is  a  spectacle  grander  than 
the  sky,  it  is  the  interior  of  the  soul.”  Yes,  truly, 
when  that  soul  is  washed  and  made  white  through 
the  precious  blood!  In  Songs  of  Solomon  Christ 
is  represented  as  saying  to  the  Church,  “  Thou 
art  all  fair,  my  love;  there  is  no  spot  in  thee.” 
Justification  rids  us  of  guilt.  Regeneration  gives 
us  a  new  nature,  holiness  restores  the  divine 
image  in  the  soul  and  makes  the  soul  all  fair — 
without  spot. 

The  obtainment  of  the  blessing  of  holiness  is  by 
faith,  but  its  perfecting  and  maturing  is  a  matter 
of  growth.  John  Wesley  wrote  to  Adam  Clark: 


88 


“DEEPER  YET!” 


“  Last  week  I  had  an  excellent  letter  from  Mrs. 
Pawson,  a  glorious  witness  of  full  salvation,  show¬ 
ing  how  impossible  it  is  to  retain  pure  love  without 
growing  therein.” 

After  a  soul  is  made  perfect  in  love,  growth  in 
holiness  becomes  then  much  more  natural  and 
steady  and  progressive  for  the  following  reasons 
as  stated  by  John  A.  Wood: 

1.  Because  all  the  internal  antagonisms  of 
growth  are  excluded  from  the  heart. 

2.  Because  the  purified  heart  has  stronger 
faith,  clearer  light,  is  nearer  the  fountain  and 
dwells  in  a  purer  atmosphere  than  before  it  was 
cleansed. 

3.  Because  after  the  Holy  Ghost  has  cleansed 
the  heart  He  has  a  better  chance  than  before  to 
enlighten,  enrich,  adorn  and  renew  it,  with  more 
and  more  of  love  and  power. 

4.  Because  the  death  of  sin  gives  free  scope  to 
the  life  of  righteousness. 

5.  Because  the  powers  and  capacities  of  the 
entirely  sanctified  soul  increase  and  expand  more 
rapidly  than  before. 

6.  Because  holiness  is  spiritual  health.  The 
very  conditions  of  retaining  purity  are  the  precise 
conditions  of  the  most  rapid  growth. 

Fletcher  says :  “  A  perfect  Christian  grows  far 
more  than  a  feeble  believer  whose  growth  is  still 
obstructed  by  the  shady  thorns  of  sin  and  by  the 
draining  suckers  of  iniquity.” 


“DEEPER  YET!” 


89 


Wesley  says :  “  One  perfected  in  love  may  grow 
in  grace  far  swifter  than  he  did  before.” 

Bishop  Hamline :  “  The  heart  may  be  cleansed 
from  all  sin,  while  our  graces  are  immature,  and 
the  cleansing  is  a  preparation  for  their  unembar¬ 
rassed  and  rapid  growth.” 


VIII 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS 

God’s  Holiness  is  not  so  much  a  particular  as  a  gen¬ 
eral  attribute,  it  spreads  itself  over  the  whole  being. 
Take  away  holiness  from  His  wisdom,  and  wisdom 
would  be  annihilated,  and  that  would  leave  cunning. 
Take  away  holiness  from  justice ,  and  you  would  have 
cruelty .  7'ake  away  holiness  and  you  would  have  false 
piety;  and  take  it  away  from  truth,  and  that  would 
leave  falsehood.  Holiness  is  His  superlative  excellence. 
This  is  His  throne,  for  “He  sits  upon  the  throne  of  His 
Holiness.”  Let  us  be  filled  with  the  Spirit ,  and  then 
see  how  we  will  be  separated  from  sin.  Our  wisdom, 
filled  with  holiness,  will  be  very  different  from  subtlety; 
our  power  will  have  no  form  of  oppression ;  our  sover¬ 
eignty  will  be  free  from  tyranny;  justice,  marked  with 
holiness,  will  be  our  mercy,  and  it  will  not  degenerate 
into  cruelty.  You  can  trace  out  this  thought  in  its 
ramifications.  You  will  be  elevated  into  the  likeness  of 
God,  and  pass  hither  and  thither  a  holy  being,  and  in 
the  religious  character  there  is  nothing  mean. — Arch¬ 
bishop  Tii<i,otson. 

“T^EAUTY,”  says  Young,  “  is  fair  virtue’s 
face,  virtue  made  visible  in  outward 
grace.”  “  Beauty,”  says  Michael  Angelo, 
“  is  the  purgation  of  superfluities.”  “  Supreme 
beauty,”  says  Winkelmann,  “  resides  in  God.” 
Another  noted  writer  speaks  of  the  “  Ennobling 

90 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS 


91 


inspiration  springing  from  the  sensibility  of  the 
soul  toward  beauty  and  sublimity  in  the  natural 
and  moral  world.”  As  we  contemplate  the  beauty 
of  holiness  we  touch  those  hidden  springs  of  en¬ 
nobling  inspiration. 

It  has  been  well  said  “  that  all  the  primary  col¬ 
ours  in  nature  coalesce  to  make  pure  white.”  It 
takes  the  red,  orange,  yellow,  green,  blue,  indigo 
and  violet  to  make  a  pure  white;  so  the  various 
attributes  of  holiness  join  together — coalesce — to 
produce  the  pure  white  light  of  the  beauty  of 
holiness. 

If  we  hold  to  the  figure  seven  as  the  number  of 
the  primary  colours,  we  may  venture  to  use  the 
same  number  in  enumerating  the  elements  that  go 
to  make  up  the  beauty  of  holiness. 

1.  The  Beauty  of  Holiness  is  the  beauty  of 
Purity. 

2.  The  Beauty  of  Holiness  is  the  beauty  of 
Harmony. 

3.  The  Beauty  of  Holiness  is  the  beauty  of 
Devotion  or  Consecration. 

4.  The  Beauty  of  Holiness  is  the  beauty  of 
Humility. 

5.  The  Beauty  of  Holiness  is  the  beauty  of 
Love. 

6.  The  Beauty  of  Holiness  is  the  beauty  of 
Christlikeness. 

7.  The  Beauty  of  Holiness  is  the  beauty  of 
Perfection. 


92 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS 


John  Fletcher,  writing  on  Christian  Perfection, 
explained  it  thus : 

“  We  mean  nothing  but  the  cluster  and  maturity 
of  the  graces  which  compose  the  Christian  char¬ 
acter  in  the  church  militant.  In  other  words, 

*  Christian  Perfection  ’  is  a  spiritual  constellation 
made  up  of  those  gracious  stars — perfect  re¬ 
pentance,  perfect  faith,  perfect  humility,  perfect 
meekness,  perfect  self-denial,  perfect  resignation, 
perfect  hope,  perfect  charity  for  our  visible  ene¬ 
mies  as  well  as  for  our  earthly  relation;  and  above 
all  perfect  love  for  our  invisible  God  through  the 
explicit  knowledge  of  our  Mediator,  Jesus  Christ; 
and  as  this  last  star  is  always  accompanied  by  all 
the  others,  as  Jupiter  is  by  his  satellites,  we  fre¬ 
quently  use  the  phrase  ‘perfect  love’  instead  of 
the  word  perfection,  understanding  by  it  the  pure 
love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  the  hearts  of  estab¬ 
lished  believers  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is 
abundantly  given  them  under  the  fullness  of  the 
Christian  dispensation.” 

Some  writers,  like  Madam  Guyon,  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church,  wrote  strongly,  truly  and 
beautifully  on  the  subject  of  sanctification.  A  long 
time  since,  there  came  to  us  a  very  remarkable  and 
beautiful  setting  of  this  subject  by  a  Catholic 
writer.  The  article  is  not  at  hand  as  we  write, 
but  the  following  notes  made  from  it  are  very 
suggestive : 

What  is  sanctified  grace?  The  greatest  treas- 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS 


93 


ure  with  which  the  soul  can  be  enriched — a 
treasure  in  comparison  with  which  all  else  is  value¬ 
less.  ,  It  is  that  grace  by  which  the  soul  comes  into 
possession  of  faith  like  Abraham,  patience  like 
Job,  hope  like  Moses,  perseverance  like  Noah, 
meekness  like  David,  temperance  like  Daniel,  pray¬ 
erfulness  like  Elijah,  unworldliness  like  James, 
boldness  like  Peter,  love  like  John,  guilelessness 
like  Nathanael,  devotion  to  God  and  to  Jesus  like 
Paul.  It  is  that  grace  which  will  let  you  sing  in 
trial  like  Paul  and  Silas,  help  you  to  pray  out  of 
prison  like  Peter,  keep  you  in  the  hottest  fire  of 
affliction  like  the  three  Hebrew  children.  Sanctifi¬ 
cation  is  supernatural  grace  because  it  takes  super¬ 
natural  power  to  arrest,  to  control,  to  destroy. 
Sanctification  is  an  habitual  grace.  Holiness  be¬ 
comes  a  habit  on  earth ;  here  the  saints  do  on  earth 
as  they  do  in  Heaven. 

Sanctifying  grace  imparts  sovereign  and  moral 
beauty  to  the  soul  so  that  according  to  Thomas 
Aquinas,  that  which  is  in  God  substantially  by  His 
essence  is  accidently  in  the  soul  by  divine  partici¬ 
pation.  It  is  such  beauty  God  Himself  is  cap¬ 
tivated  with  it.  “  Thou  art  all  beautiful;  there  is 
no  spot  in  thee.,,  It  reflects  the  beauty  of  the  face 
of  God.  Oh,  the  face  of  God!  Did  you  ever  see 
a  soul  lit  up  by  divine  glory?  That  is  but  the  re¬ 
flection  of  the  glory  of  God  in  the  face  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

Sanctification  is  a  participation  of  the  divine 


94 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS 


nature,  a  seed  of  divinity.  “  His  seed  remaineth  in 
him.”  It  partakes  of  the  divine  nature  in  the  sense 
the  iron  partakes  of  the  fire;  the  rough,  rude  iron 
put  into  the  fire  becomes  radiant,  brilliant  and  the 
fire  may  say  to  it :  “  I  have  imparted  that  to  thee.” 
So  God  may  say  to  the  soul,  “  I  impart  to  thee  the 
glow  and  beauty  and  heat  of  my  nature — the  soul 
is  bathed  in  God.” 

Sanctifying  grace  assures  eternal  salvation,  con¬ 
ditioned  of  course  upon  its  continuance  in  the  soul 
by  a  living  faith  and  obedience.  Possessed  with 
this  no  soul  can  be  lost. 

Sanctifying  grace  is  susceptible  of  constant  in¬ 
crease,  and  like  other  riches  can  be  added  onto. 
This  is  increased  by  divine  bestowments,  also  by 
fuller  acquirements  by  exercise  and  practice. 
Sanctifying  grace  gives  cause  for  God’s  com¬ 
placency  with  His  saints.  God  delights  in  His 
saints  and  takes  pleasure  in  them.  Sanctifying 
grace  is  that  by  which  the  soul  enjoys  God, 
abounds  in  His  love  and  becomes  more  and  more 
like  Him — like  Him  in  love,  in  humility,  in  sinless¬ 
ness,  in  purity,  in  holiness — “  We  shall  be  like 
Him.” 

And  now,  in  closing,  let  us  add  that  sanctifica¬ 
tion,  though  instantaneously  obtained,  is  ever 
capable  of  improvement,  development  and  progres¬ 
sion.  As  we  began  with  Fletcher  so  shall  we  con¬ 
clude  with  him  by  giving  some  rare  words  of  his 
concerning  growth  in  holiness  and  the  fullness  of 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS 


95 


God.  Said  he :  “  Filled  with  all  the  fullness  of 
God  describes  a  state  of  grace  infinitesimally 
beyond  entire  sanctification.  We  enter  the  sancti¬ 
fied  experience  from  the  negative  hemisphere,  real¬ 
ising  the  utter  elimination  of  the  sin  principle 
through  the  cleansing  blood.  Having  passed  the 
sin  side  of  the  experience,  we  enter  the  glorious 
hemisphere  of  incoming  and  abounding  grace 
which  is  illimitable  in  this  life  and  superseded  by 
the  glory  of  Heaven,  sweeps  on  in  a  geometrical 
ratio  through  all  eternity,  ever  and  anon  flooding 
the  soul  with  fruitions,  amplifications,  beautifica¬ 
tions,  and  rhapsodies  eclipsing  the  most  ecstatic 
hyperboles,  while  ages  and  cycles  wheel  their 
precipitate  flight.,, 

Jeremy  Taylor  wrote:  “  There  is  a  sort  of  God’s 
dear  servants  who  walk  in  perfectness;  and  they 
have  a  degree  of  love  and  divine  knowledge  more 
than  one  can  discourse  of  and  more  certain  than 
the  demonstration  of  geometry — brighter  than  the 
sun.  As  the  flame  touches  a  flame  and  combines 
into  splendour  and  glory,  so  is  the  spirit  of  a  man 
united  into  Christ  by  the  spirit  of  Christ.” 

Perhaps  there  was  no  man  of  modern  times  that 
exemplified  these  things  and  manifested  the  beauty 
of  holiness  as  did  John  Fletcher,  of  early  Metho¬ 
dist  times.  “  For  seraphic  piety,  for  sanctity  that 
had  no  perceptible  spot  or  flaw,  he  stood  alone.” 
Wesley  says :  “  I  was  intimately  acquainted  with 
him  more  than  thirty  years.  During  a  journey  of 


96 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS 


many  hundred  miles  I  conversed  with  him  morn¬ 
ing,  noon  and  night,  without  the  least  reserve,  and 
in  all  that  time  I  never  heard  him  speak  an  im¬ 
proper  word  or  saw  him  do  an  improper  action. 
Many  exemplary  men  have  I  known,  holy  in  heart 
and  life,  within  fourscore  years,  but  one  equal  to 
him  I  have  not  known — one  so  inwardly  and  out¬ 
wardly  devoted  to  God.  So  unblamable  a  char¬ 
acter  in  every  respect  I  have  not  found  either  in 
Europe  or  America.”  Southey  says :  “  Fletcher 
in  any  communion  would  have  been  a  saint.”  Isaac 
Taylor  says :  “  He  was  a  saint,  as  unearthly  a  being 
as  could  tread  the  earth  at  all.”  Robert  Hall  says : 
“  Fletcher  is  a  seraph  who  burns  with  the  ardour 
of  Divine  Eove.  Spurning  the  fetters  of  mortal¬ 
ity,  he  almost  habitually  seems  to  have  anticipated 
the  rapture  of  the  beatific  vision.” 

In  1769,  Fletcher,  at  the  request  of  the  Countess 
of  Huntingdon,  became  president  of  Treveca 
seminary  for  educating  young  men  for  the  min¬ 
istry.  The  Countess  describes  Fletcher  thus :  “  The 
reader  will  pardon  me  if  he  thinks  I  exceed;  my 
heart  kindles  while  I  write.  Here  it  was  that  I 
saw,  shall  I  say,  an  angel  in  human  flesh.  I  should 
not  far  exceed  the  truth  if  I  said  so.  But  here  I 
saw  a  descendant  of  fallen.  Adam,  so  fully  raised 
above  the  sins  of  the  fall,  that  though  by  the  body 
he  was  tied  down  to  earth,  yet  was  his  whole  con¬ 
versation  in  heaven;  yet  was  his  life  from  day  to 
day  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  Prayer,  praise,  love 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS 


97 


and  zeal,  all  ardent,  elevated  above  what  one  would 
think  attainable  in  this  state  of  frailty,  were  the 
elements  in  which  he  continually  lived.  Language, 
arts,  sciences,  grammar,  rhetoric,  logic,  even  divin¬ 
ity  itself,  as  it  is  called,  were  all  laid  aside  when  he 
appeared  in  the  school  room  among  the  students. 
And  they  seldom  hearkened  long  before  they  were 
all  in  tears,  and  every  heart  caught  the  fire  from 
the  flame  that  burned  in  his  soul.” 

There  is  a  faith  unmixed  with  doubt, 

A  love  as  free  from  fear; 

A  walk  with  Jesus  where  is  felt 
His  presence  always  near. 

There  is  a  rest  which  God  bestows, 

Transcending  pardon,  peace; 

A  lowly,  §weet  simplicity 

Where  inward  conflicts  cease. 

There  is  a  service  God  inspired, 

A  zeal  that  tireless  grows: 

A  being  “  crucified  with  Christ  ” 

Where  joy  unceasing  flows. 

There  is  a  being  “  right  with  God,” 

That  yields  to  His  commands, 

Unswerving,  true  fidelity, 

A  loyalty  that  stands. 

There  is  a  meekness  free  from  pride 
That  feels  no  anger  rise 

At  slights,  or  hate,  or  ridicule, 

But  crosses  counts  a  prize  ; 

There  is  a  patience  that  endures 
Without  a  fret  or  care, 

But  joyful  signs  “  Thy  will  be  done,” 

My  Lord’s  sweet  grace  I  share. 


98 


THE  BEAUTY  OF  HOLINESS 


There  is  a  purity  of  heart, 

A  cleanness  of  Desire 
Wrought  by  the  holy  Comforter, 

With  sanctifying  power. 

There  is  a  glory  that  awaits 

Each  blood-washed  soul  on  high, 

When  Christ  shall  come  and  take  His  bride 
With  Him  beyond  the  sky. 

— Author  Unknown. 


IX 


SPIRITUAL  EXPERIENCES 

“  Shall  I  ever  forget  the  summer  morning  in  1886,  not 
long  after  that  blessed  time  of  spiritual  discovery  and 
strengthening  in  the  knowledge  of  God,  I  experienced 
indeed  a  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glory  in  the  sight 
of  our  Lord  and  life!  Walking  out  alone  I  fell  into 
prayer  to  be  conformed  in  all  things  to  the  will  of  Him 
who  had  redeemed  me  and  drawn  me  to  Himself .  As  t 
proceeded,  zvhile  heart  and  mind  were  kept  in  perfect 
peace  and  not  the  slightest  enthusiastic  disturbance  of 
judgment  was  to  be  suspected,  it  was  yet  as  if  a  heaven 
was  opened  around  me  and  the  joy  of  the  Lord  flowed 
in  divine  effusion  over  my  being.  The  glory  and  beauty 
of  my  Saviour's  Person,  the  indescribable  reality  of  His 
presence  both  in  me  and  around  me,  the  absolute  all- 
sufficiency  of  His  grace  and  power,  the  loveliness  and 
attraction  of  His  perfect  will — all  shone  upon  me  with 
a  brightness  of  which  the  August  sunshine  seemed  but 
a  type  and  a  shadow — Bishop  MoupE. 

RELIGION  is  something  more,  something 
greater,  than  a  set  of  rules,  a  finespun 
theory  of  morals,  or  a  superstition.  The 
religion  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  real  soul  experience. 

Archbishop  Usher  describes  a  Christian  as  one 
who  has  a  “  heart  so  all-flowing  with  the  love  of 
God  as  continually  to  offer  up  every  thought,  word 
and  work  as  a  spiritual  sacrifice  acceptable  to  God 
through  Christ.” 


99 


100 


SPIRITUAL  EXPERIENCES 


Lady  Huntingdon,  famous  with  the  early  Meth¬ 
odists,  had  a  deep  experience  of  the  deeper  things 
of  God  and  at  one  time  gave  her  testimony  in  the 
following  words :  “  My  whole  heart  has  not  one 
single  grain,  this  moment,  of  thirst  after  approba¬ 
tion.  I  feel  alone  with  God;  He  fills  the  whole  ' 
void ;  I  have  not  one  wish,  one  will,  one  desire,  but 
in  Him;  He  hath  set  my  feet  in  a  large  room.  I 
have  wondered  and  stood  amazed  that  God  should 
make  a  conquest  of  all  within  me  by  love.” 

Note  the  words :  “  A  conquest  of  all  within  me 
by  love.” 

One  of  Wesley !s  hymns  conveys  the  thought  of 
this  deep  experience  thus : 

“  Thee  will  I  love,  my  joy,  my  crown; 

Thee  will  I  love,  my  Lord,  my  God ; 

Thee  will  I  love,  beneath  Thy  frown 
Or  smile,  Thy  scepter  or  Thy  rod. 

What  though  my  flesh  and  heart  decay! 

Thee  will  I  love  in  endless  day !  ” 

Bishop  Whatcoat,  of  holy  memory,  tells  of  some 
wonderful  spiritual  experiences  he  went  through. 
In  a  letter  to  Mr.  Wesley,  the  Bishop  tells  how  he 
was  “  first  born  of  the  Spirit.”  He  says : 

“On  Sept.  3,  1758,  being  overwhelmed  with 
guilt  and  fear,  as  I  was  reading  ...  I  came  to 
these  words,  ‘  The  Spirit  itself  beareth  witness 
with  our  spirits  that  we  are  the  children  of  God/ 
As  I  fixed  my  eyes  upon  them,  in  a  moment  my 
darkness  was  removed,  and  the  Spirit  did  bear 


SPIRITUAL  EXPERIENCES 


101 


witness  with  my  spirit  that  I  was  a  child  of  God. 
In  the  same  instant  I  was  filled  with  unspeakable 
peace  and  joy  in  believing;  and  all  fear  of  death, 
judgment  and  hell  vanished  away  ”... 

Later  the  Bishop  testified  thus :  "  I  soon  found 
that,  though  I  was  justified  freely,  I  was  not 
wholly  sanctified.  This  brought  me  into  a  deep 
concern,  and  confirmed  my  resolution  to  admit  of 
no  peace,  no,  nor  truce,  with  the  evils  which  I  still 
found  in  my  heart.  These  considerations  led  me 
to  consider  more  attentively  the  exceeding  great 
and  precious  promises  whereby  we  may  escape  all 
the  corruption  that  is  in  this  world,  and  be  made 
partakers  of  the  Divine  nature.  I  saw  it  was  the 
mere  gift  of  God,  and  consequently  to  be  received 
by  faith,  and  after  many  sharp  and  v  painful  con¬ 
flicts,  and  many  gracious  visitations,  on  March  28, 
1761,  my  spirit  was  drawn  out  and  engaged  in 
wrestling  with  God  for  about  two  hours,  in  a 
manner  I  never  knew  before.  Suddenly  I  was 
stripped  of  all  but  love.  I  was  all  love  and  prayer, 
and  praise.  And  in  this  happy  state,  rejoicing 
evermore,  and  in  everything  giving  thanks,  I  con¬ 
tinued  for  some  years,  wanting  nothing  for  soul  or 
body  more  than  I  received  from  day  to  day.” 

The  Christian  life  is  not  alone  a  life  of  spiritual 
enjoyments;  it  has  many  conflicts  and  fights  with 
the  enemy  of  souls,  but  the  believer  becomes  wise 
as  to  his  devices.  2  Cor.  2:11.  That  was  a  won¬ 
derful  sermon  on  “  The  Devil  in  Dry  Places  ” 


102 


SPIRITUAL  EXPERIENCES 


which  that  great  Welsh  preacher,  Christmas 
Evans,  preached,  in  which  he  said : 

“  I  see  the  unclean  spirit  rising  like  a  winged 
dragon,  circling  in  the  air,  and  seeking  for  a 
resting-place.  Casting  his  fiery  glances  toward  a 
certain  neighbourhood,  he  spies  a  young  man  in 
the  bloom  of  life  and  rejoicing  in  his  strength, 
seated  on  the  front  of  his  cart,  going  for  lime. 

“  ‘  There  he  is,’  said  the  old  dragon.  ‘  His  veins 
are  full  of  blood,  and  his  bones  of  marrow.  I  will 
throw  into  his  bosom  sparks  from  hell;  I  will  set 
all  his  passions  on  fire ;  I  will  lead  him  from  bad  to 
worse,  until  he  shall  perpetrate  every  sin.  I  will 
make  him  a  murderer,  and  his  soul  shall  sink  never 
again  to  rise,  in  the  lake  of  fire.’ 

“  By  this  time  I  see  him  descend  with  a  full 
swoop  toward  the  earth,  but,  nearing  the  youth,  the 
dragon  heard  him  sing : 

“  ‘  Guide  me,  O  Thou  great  Jehovah ! 

Pilgrim  through  this  barren  land; 

I  am  weak,  but  Thou  art  mighty, 

Hold  me  with  Thy  powerful  hand. 

Strong  Deliverer, 

Be  Thou  still  my  strength  and  shield/ 

“  ‘  A  dry,  dry  place  this,’  says  the  dragon,  and 
away  he  goes. 

“  But  I  see  him  again,  hovering  in  the  air,  and 
casting  about  for  a  suitable  resting-place.  Beneath 
his  eyes  is  a  flowery  meadow  watered  by  a  crystal 
stream,  and  he  describes  among  the  kine  a  maiden 


SPIRITUAL  EXPERIENCES 


103 


about  eighteen  years  of  age,  picking  up  here  and 
there  a  beautiful  flower. 

“  4  There  she  is,’  says  Apollyon,  intent  upon  her 
soul.  ‘  I  will  poison  her  thoughts ;  she  shall  stray 
from  the  paths  of  virtue;  she  shall  think  evil 
thoughts,  and  become  impure;  she  shall  become  a 
lost  creature  in  the  great  city,  and  at  last  I  will 
cast  her  down  from  the  precipice  into  everlasting 
burnings/ 

“  Again  he  took  downward  flight,  but  he  no 
sooner  heard  her  sing  the  following  words,  with 
a  voice  that  might  have  melted  the  rocks : 

“  ‘  Other  refuge  have  I  none, 

Hangs  my  helpless  soul  on  Thee; 

Leave,  ah,  leave  me  not  alone, 

Still  support  and  comfort  me/ 

“  *  This  place  is  too  dry  for  me/  says  the  dragon, 
and  off  he  flies. 

“  Now  he  ascends  from  the  meadow,  then,  like 
some  great  balloon,  very  much  enraged,  and 
breathing  forth  smoke  and  fire,  and  threatening 
ruin  and  damnation  to  all  created  things. 

“  ‘  I  will  have  a  place  to  dwell/  he  says,  *  in  spite 
of  decree,  covenant,  or  grace/ 

“  As  he  was  thus  speaking  he  beheld  a  woman, 
*  stricken  in  years/  busy  with  her  spinning  wheel 
at  her  cottage  door. 

“ 1  Ah,  I  see/  says  the  dragon,  ‘  she  is  ripe  for 
destruction;  she  shall  know  the  bitterness  of  the 


104 


SPIRITUAL  EXPERIENCES 


wail  which  ascends  from  the  burning  marl  of  hell!  ’ 

“  He  forthwith  alights  on  the  roof  of  the  cot, 
where  he  hears  the  old  woman  repeat  with  a 
trembling  voice,  but  with  heavenly  feeling,  the 
words,  ‘  For  the  mountains  shall  depart  and  the 
hills  be  removed,  but  my  kindness  shall  not  depart 
from  thee/ 

“  ‘  This  place  is  too  dry  for  me/  says  the  dragon, 
and  away  he  goes  again. 

“ 4  In  yonder  cottage  lies  old  William,  slowly 
wasting  away.  He  has  borne  the  heat  and  the 
burden,  and  altogether  he  has  had  a  hard  life  of  it. 
He  has  very  little  reason  to  be  thankful  for  the 
mercies  he  has  received  and  has  not  found  serving 
God  a  very  profitable  business.  I  know  I  can  get 
him  to  “  curse  God  and  die.”  ’ 

“  Thus  musing,  away  he  flew  to  the  sick  man’s 
bedside;  but  as  he  listened  he  heard  these  words: 
*  Though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow 
of  death,  I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  Thou  art  with 
me;  Thy  rod  and  Thy  staff,  they  comfort  me.’ 

“  Mortified  and  enraged,  the  dragon  took  his 
flight,  saying,  4 1  will  return  to  the  place  whence 
I  came/  ” 

The  satisfying  grace  of  God  is  beautifully  illus¬ 
trated  by  th*  following  story  of  one  of  the  early 
Methodist  Circuit  Riders,  who  for  many  years  had 
preached  in  the  Northwestern  Territory;  after  its 
division  into  States  he  found  his  operations  cir¬ 
cumscribed  to  Indiana.  Himself  and  family  had 


SPIRITUAL  EXPERIENCES  105 

subsisted  upon  the  scanty  pittance  allowed  them — 
barely  enough  to  keep  soul  and  body  together. 
They  had  borne  their  poverty  and  toil  without  a 
murmur.  The  preacher  was  much  beloved,  tall, 
slender,  graceful,  with  a  winning  countenance,  a 
kindly  eye,  where  flashed  the  fire  of  genius,  a  voice 
silvery  and  powerful  in  speech,  sweet  as  a  wind- 
harp  in  song.  As  the  country  began  to  settle,  a 
large  landholder,  much  attached  to  the  preacher, 
knowing  his  poverty,  wishes  to  make  an  expression 
of  his  grateful  regard  and  affection.  Wherefore 
he  presents  him  with  a  title-deed  of  three  hundred 
and  twenty  acres — a  half  section  of  land.  The 
man  of  God  goes  upon  his  way  with  a  glad  and 
humble  heart.  Thus  he  has  provision  made  for 
his  own  advancing  age,  and  the  wants  of  his  rising 
family.  In  three  months  he  returns;  alighting  at 
the  gate,  he  removes  the  saddle-bags  and  begins  to 
fumble  in  their  capacious  pockets.  As  he  reaches 
the  door,  where  stands  his  friendly  host  to  wel¬ 
come  him,  he  draws  out  the  parchment,  saying: 

“  Here,  sir,  I  want  to  give  you  back  your 
title-deed.” 

“  What’s  the  matter  ?  ”  said  his  friend,  sur¬ 
prised;  “  any  flaw  in  it?  ” 

“  No.” 

“  Isn’t  it  good  land?  ” 

“  Good  as  any  in  the  State.” 

“  Sickly  situation  ?  ” 

“  Healthy  as  any  other.” 


106 


SPIRITUAL  EXPERIENCES 


“  Do  you  think  I  repent  my  gift?  ” 

“  I  haven’t  the  slightest  reason  to  doubt  your 
generosity.” 

“  Why  don’t  you  keep  it  then  ?  ” 

“  Well,  sir,”  said  the  preacher,  “  you  know  I  am 
very  fond  of  singing,  and  there’s  one  hymn  in  my 
book,  the  singing  of  which  is  one  of  the  greatest 
comforts  of  my  life.  I  have  not  been  able  to  sing 
it  with  my  whole  heart  since  I  was  here.  A  part 
of  it  runs  in  this  way : 

No  foot  of  land  do  I  possess, 

No  cottage  in  this  wilderness: 

A  poor  wayfaring  man, 

I  lodge  awhile  in  tents  below; 

Or  gladly  wander  to  and  fro, 

Till  I  my  Canaan  gain. 

Nothing  on  earth  I  call  my  own; 

A  stranger  to  the  world  unknown, 

I  all  their  goods  despise; 

I  trample  on  their  whole  delight. 

And  seek  a  country  out  of  sight, 

A  country  in  the  skies. 

There  is  my  house  and  portion  fair. 

My  treasure  and  my  heart  are  there, 

And  my  abiding  home ; 

For  me  my  elder  brethren  stay, 

And  angels  beckon  me  away, 

And  Jesus  bids  me  come. 

“  Take  your  title-deed,”  he  added ;  “  I  had 
rather  sing  that  hymn  with  a  clear  conscience  than 
own  America.” 


X 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEE 

The  Gospel  preacher  has  the  best  field  for  tender,  sol¬ 
emn  and  sublime  eloquence.  “  The  most  august  objects 
are  presented;  the  most  important  interests  are  dis¬ 
cussed;  the  most  tender  motives  are  urged;  God  and 
angels,  the  treason  of  Satan,  the  creation ,  ruin,  and 
recovery  of  a  world,  the  incarnation,  death,  resurrec¬ 
tion,  and  reign  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  day  of  judgment , 
a  burning  universe,  an  eternity,  a  heaven  and  a  hell,  all 
pass  before  the  eye.  What  are  the  petty  dissensions  of 
the  states  of  Greece,  or  the  ambition  of  Philip ?  What 
are  the  plots  and  victories  of  Rome,  or  the  treason  of 
Catiline,  compared  with  this ?  If  the  ministers  were 
sufficiently  qualified  by  education,  study,  and  the  Holy 
Ghost,  if  they  felt  their  subjects  as  much  as  Demos¬ 
thenes  and  Cicero  did,  they  would  be  the  most  eloquent 
men  on  earth,  and  would  be  so  esteemed  wherever  con¬ 
genial  minds  were  found.” 

FATHER  TAYLOR,  the  sailor  preacher  of 
Boston  in  the  long  ago,  was  a  most  won¬ 
derful  character — unique,  original,  mighty. 
Peter  Cartwright,  speaking  of  him,  told  this  story: 
A  lady  from  the  West  visited  the  coast  and  re¬ 
ported  when  she  got  back  that  there  were  two 
cataracts  in  the  United  States — Niagara  and 
Father  Taylor. 

The  conversion  of  Father  Taylor  started  under 
the  preaching  of  Dr.  Griffin,  of  Park  St.  Church, 

107 


108 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


Boston.  It  was  consummated  under  Elijah  Hed- 
ding,  afterwards  Bishop  Hedding.  Describing 
Dr.  Griffin’s  preaching  that  night  when  he  was 
strangely  led  into  the  service,  he  said :  “  I  was 
walking  along  Tremont  Street  and  the  bell  of  Park 
Street  Church  was  tolling.  I  put  in;  and,  going 
to  the  door,  I  saw  the  port  was  full.  I  up  helm, 
unfurled  topsail  and  made  for  the  gallery;  entered 
safely,  doffed  cap  or  pennant  and  scud  under  bare 
poles  to  the  corner  pew.  There  I  hove  to,  and 
came  to  anchor.  The  old  man,  Dr.  Griffin,  was 
just  naming  his  text,  which  was :  ‘  But  he  lied 
unto  him/  ” 

“  As  he  went  on  and  stated  item  after  item — 
how  the  devil  lied  to  men  and  how  his  imps  led 
them  into  sin — I  said  a  hearty  ‘  Amen/  for  I 
knew  all  about  it. 

“  Pretty  soon  he  unfurled  the  mainsail,  raised 
the  topsail,  ran  up  the  pennants  to  the  free  breeze; 
and  I  tell  you,  the  old  gospel  never  sailed  more 
prosperously.  The  salt  spray  flew  in  every  direc¬ 
tion;  but  more  especially  did  it  run  down  my 
cheeks.  I  was  melted.  Everyone  in  the  house 
wept.  Satan  had  to  strike  sail ;  his  guns  were  dis¬ 
mounted  or  spiked;  his  various  light  crafts,  by 
which  he  led  sinners  captive,  were  all  beached ;  and 
the  Captain  of  the  Lord’s  host  rode  forth  conquer¬ 
ing  and  to  conquer.  I  was  young  then.  I  said, 
‘  Why  can’t  I  preach  so  ?  I’ll  try  it/  ” 

Father  Taylor’s  description  of  this  preaching 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


109 


service  suggests  the  essential  things  that  go  into 
effective  preaching,  which,  as  one  has  put  it,  is : 
“  Speech  thrilled  by  the  power  of  a  supernatural 
conviction  and  persuasion.” 

The  making  of  a  preacher  depends  much  upon 
the  personal  religious  experience  of  the  man. 
Think  of  that  prince  of  preachers,  Bishop  Ham¬ 
line.  The  depth  and  power  of  his  preaching  must 
be  laid  to  the  deep  soul  experience  of  the  man.  It 
is  told  how  this  came  to  pass  as  follows : 

When  Bishop  Hamline  was  in  the  height  of  his 
usefulness,  fulfilling  all  known  duty  and  attentive 
to  the  public  and  private  means  of  grace,  he  yet 
became  convinced  that  his  devotions  were  not  so 
fervent  and  vital  as  they  might  be,  that  he  was 
lacking  in  full  confidence  in  drawing  nigh  to 
God,  that  his  temper  was  not  always  in  subjection, 
and  that  a  sense  of  unfitness  and  unworthiness 
hampered  him  in  his  ministerial  efforts.  Once 
while  walking  to  church  with  his  wife,  he  stopped 
short  and  exclaimed  in  his  distress,  “  I  could  prefer 
strangling  and  death  to  such  a  state,”  and  yet  he 
was  popular,  preaching  to  overflowing  congrega¬ 
tions.  At  the  first  opportunity  he  threw  himself 
down  at  the  altar  and  implored  the  full  baptism  of 
the  Holy  Ghost.  The  hours  passed.  He  renewed 
the  struggle.  He  could  eat  little.  He  prayed 
much.  He  was  often  in  his  chamber,  kneeling  in 
supplication.  A  new  view  of  full  salvation  was 
given  to  him.  He  describes  it  himself : 


110 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


“  While  entreating  God  for  a  clean  heart  my 
mind  was  led  to  contemplate  ‘  the  image  of  Christ ’ 
as  the  single  object  of  desire — to  be  Christ-like, 
to  possess  ‘  all  the  mind  that  was  in  ’  the  blessed 
Saviour ;  and  this  became  the  burden  of  my  earnest 
prayer.” 

And  the  thought  occurred  to  him :  Why  not  take 
that  image,  and  take  it  now  ?  He  said : 

“  Give  Him  your  sin  and  take  His  purity.  Give 
Him  your  shame  and  take  His  honour.  Give  Him 
your  helplessness  and  take  His  strength.  Give 
Him  your  misery  and  take  His  bliss.  Give  Him 
your  death  and  take  His  life  everlasting.  Nothing 
remains  but  that  you  take  His  in  exchange.  Make 
haste!  Now,  just  now,  He  freely  offers  you  all, 
and  urges  all  upon  your  instant  acceptance.”  He 
adds : 

“  Suddenly  I  felt  as  though  a  hand  omnipotent, 
not  of  wrath  but  of  love,  were  laid  upon  my  brow. 
That  hand,  as  it  pressed  upon  me,  moved  down¬ 
ward.  It  wrought  within  and  without,  and  wher¬ 
ever  it  moved  it  seemed  to  leave  the  glorious  im¬ 
press  of  the  Saviour’s  image.  For  a  few  minutes 
the  depth  of  God’s  love  swallowed  me  up;  all  its 
billows  rolled  over  me.” 

Under  this  influence  he  fell  to  the  floor  and 
cried  out  in  joyful  emotion  that  he  had  found  the 
fullness,  and  ever  afterward  while  he  lived  he  was 
a  willing  witness  to  the  power  of  God  to  make  of 
believers  a  contented,  satisfied  and  joyful  people. 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


111 


and  it  was  the  chief  burden  of  his  life  to  lead  souls 
to  the  Saviour  into  whose  perfect  likeness  he  had 
been  transformed. 

The  power  of  preaching  lies  in  the  conviction 
that  the  Gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  is  the  most  vital 
message  that  human  lips  can  utter.  Alas  that  so 
much  time  of  the  pulpit  is  spent  on  secondary- 
subjects  ! 

The  Gospel  Preacher  preaches  the  certainties  of 
Salvation  and  does  not  refrain  from  preaching  the 
terrors  of  the  law  as  well  as  the  promises  of  grace. 

Some  years  ago  Dr.  Buckley,  writing  on  the 
subject  of  preaching  in  the  New  York  Christian 
Advocate ,  inserted  a  letter  from  a  very  thoughtful 
Methodist  writer  who  said: 

“  I  have  listened  to  nearly  all  our  bishops,  to 
many  of  our  secretaries,  editors,  college  presidents, 
and  other  men  acknowledged  to  be  our  strongest 
and  best.  I  have  absolute  confidence  in  their  hon¬ 
esty  of  purpose,  their  goodness,  their  high  char¬ 
acter.  I  have  gone  from  their  meetings  with  the 
feeling  that  God  had  given  Methodism  the  strong¬ 
est  and  best  men  in  the  world;  but  I  never  went 
from  their  meetings  with  the  feeling  that  any  one 
was  in  danger.  To  me  it  seems  like  the  clearest  of 
propositions  that  they  act  as  if  they  believe  in  these 
teachings  in  inverse  ratio  to  their  intelligence.  Get 
together  five  hundred  of  the  men  who  acknowledge 
to  be  our  strongest  and  best,  men  who  speak  to  the 
largest  congregations,  and  whose  words  are  re- 


112 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


ceived  with  the  most  authority,  and  let  them  an¬ 
swer  this  question :  4  How  many  souls  have  come 
to  Christ  in  the  past  year  in  response  to  your  ap¬ 
peals  ? 9  How  many  in  truth  would  make  this 
statement :  '  When  I  was  a  young  man  souls 
flocked  to  God's  altar  from  my  appeals,  but  as  I 
have  grown  older  and  wiser,  broader  in  my  com¬ 
prehension  and  vision,  I  seldom  see  any  one  saved 
in  my  meetings To  me  the  only  solution  is  that 
while  they  honestly  maintain  the  old  standards  as 
a  sacred  duty,  and  earnestly  endeavour  to  make 
themselves  believe  the  old  teachings,  deep  in  their 
hearts  they  do  not  believe  them.  .  .  .  Today 
Protestantism  stands  for  a  code  of  laws  without 
penalty,  for  when  we  crowd  the  penalty  back  and 
out  of  sight,  and  ignore  it,  practically  it  ceases  to 
be.  .  .  .  Possibly  we  do  not  need  more  doctrinal 
preaching  nor  more  loyal  teaching  of  the  stand¬ 
ards,  only  that  the  leaders  should  act  as  if  they  had 
some  comprehension  of  the  truth  they  teach.  The 
most  earnest  appeal  I  have  listened  to  for  years 
from  a  minister  (excepting  revivalists  and  men 
generally  regarded  as  cranks)  closed  with  an  invi¬ 
tation.  After  repeating  the  awful  declaration  of 
Christ  concerning  the  wicked,  he  said :  ‘  I  would 
not  needlessly  excite  nor  alarm  anyone,  nor  will  I 
attempt  to  explain  these  words,  but  they  certainly 
mean  something,  and  my  mature  judgment  is  that 
those  out  of  Christ  should  seek  Him  at  once.  If 
there  is  one  here  tonight  who  desires  to  begin  the 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


113 


new  life,  will  he  please  come  forward  and  give  me 
his  hand?’  Think  of  a  man  in  a  burning  hotel, 
the  elevators  in  flames,  the  corridors  thick  with 
smoke,  gently  knocking  at  a  door  and  quietly  say¬ 
ing  :  *  The  flames  and  smoke  must  mean  some¬ 
thing,  and  my  mature  judgment  is  that  you  should 
seriously  think  of  getting  a  new  boarding  place,’ 
and,  the  man  still  sleeping,  he  goes  on  to  say :  4  But 
do  not  be  excited  nor  needlessly  alarmed.’  ...  To 
me  it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  conceive  of  a  man 
so  hard-hearted,  so  intellectually  great,  so  cold¬ 
blooded  and  icy,  so  utterly  lost  to  all  feelings  of 
love  and  sympathy  for  his  fellows,  as  to  really 
believe  in  his  heart  in  the  eternal  damnation  of 
vast  numbers  into  whose  faces  he  is  looking  and  to 
whom  he  is  talking,  and  never  arouse  them  to  a 
sense  of  their  danger,  or  urge  them  to  flee  from 
the  wrath  to  come.” 

The  Christian  Minister  often  has  hard  tasks, 
but  he  holds  on  till  victory  comes.  The  following 
incident  is  told  of  Stephen  Olin,  one  of  the  shining 
lights  of  the  New  England  Methodist  Episcopal 
ministry : 

At  one  point  in  his  ministry  he  became  greatly 
discouraged,  and  attempted  to  leave  his  work.  A 
significant  dream  relieved  him.  He  thought  he 
was  working  with  a  pick-axe  on  the  top  of  a 
basaltic  rock.  His  muscular  arm  brought  down 
stroke  after  stroke  for  hours;  but  the  rock  was 
hardly  indented.  He  said  to  himself,  “  It  is  use- 


114 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


less;  I  will  pick  no  more.”  Suddenly,  a  stranger 
of  dignified  mien  stood  by  his  side,  and  thus  spoke 
to  him :  “  You  will  pick  no  more?  ” 

“  No.” 

“  Were  you  not  set  to  this  task?  ” 

“  Yes.” 

“  And  why  abandon  it  ?  ” 

“  My  work  is  vain ;  I  make  no  impression  on 
the  rock.” 

Solemnly  the  stranger  replied :  “  What  is  that  to 
you?  Your  duty  is  to  pick  whether  the  rock  yields 
or  not.  Your  work  is  in  your  own  hands;  the 
result  is  not.  Work  on!” 

He  resumed  his  task.  The  first  blow  was  given 
with  almost  superhuman  force,  and  the  rock  flew 
into  a  thousand  pieces.  He  awoke,  returned  to  his 
work,  and  a  great  revival  followed.  From  that 
day  he  never  had  a  temptation  to  give  up  his 
commission. 

The  Gospel  Minister  may  have  many  discour¬ 
agements,  but  his  day  of  rejoicing  will  come  if  he 
is  faithful.  The  Christian  Herald  relates  the  fol¬ 
lowing  incident: 

“  Years  ago  a  Missouri  country  congregation 
listened  to  a  sermon  by  a  young  preacher  who  had 
walked  twenty  miles  to  deliver  it.  Tired,  hungry, 
this  youth  faltered,  floundered  and  failed.  The 
people  were  disgusted;  they  did  not  know  he  had 
walked  the  weary  miles,  and  when  the  service  was 
over  nobody  greeted  him,  nobody  offered  him  food 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


115 


or  shelter,  but  as  he  started  down  the  long  road 
with  a  breaking  heart,  the  coloured  janitor  asked 
him  to  share  his  humble  meal  in  a  nearby  shanty. 

“  Years  passed;  the  halting  young  exhorter  be¬ 
came  Bishop  Marvin,  of  world-wide  reputation, 
and  after  a  full  generation  he  once  more  stood  in 
that  spot  to  dedicate  a  great  country  church.  The 
whole  community  was  assembled;  it  was  a  tre¬ 
mendous  event  in  their  lives.  As  the  Bishop 
preached  he  seemed  to  detach  the  people  from  the 
world  and  lift  them  up  to  the  Great  White  Throne. 
When  the  service  was  ended  and  people  had  come 
to  earthly  thoughts  again,  many  crowded  about 
with  their  carriages  and  offered  lavish  hospitality, 
but  the  Bishop  waved  them  all  aside,  and  called  the 
old  coloured  janitor,  saying,  *  When  I  was  here 
years  ago  I  was  none  too  good  for  you  and  I  am 
none  too  good  for  you  today.’  What  a  day  for 
that  white-headed  host  and  hostess  in  their  cabin 
and  their  grown-up  children  who  through  the  gen¬ 
erations  that  are  yet  to  come  will  recall  the  story 
of  the  Bishop’s  visit.” 

Perhaps  no  poet  has  better  described  the  Chris¬ 
tian.  preacher  than  has  the  English  poet,  Cowper. 
He  writes  thus : 

“  His  theme  divine, 

His  office  sacred,  his  credentials  clear, 

By  him  the  violated  law  speaks  out 

Its  thunders.  And  by  him  in  strains  as  sweet 

As  angels  use,  the  Gospel  whispers  peace. 


116 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


He  stablishes  the  strong,  restores  the  weak, 
Reclaims  the  wanderer,  binds  the  broken  heart, 
And,  arm’d  himself  in  panoply  complete 
Of  heavenly  temper,  furnishes  with  arms 
Bright  as  his  own,  and  trains,  by  every  rule 
Of  holy  discipline,  to  glorious  war, 

The  sacramental  host  of  God’s  elect.” 

The  Christian  Minister  is  an  earnest,  strong 
believer.  There  is  no  place  for  doubt  and  skep¬ 
ticism  in  the  called  minister.  He  believes,  there¬ 
fore  he  speaks.  Dr.  Steele  tells  us  how  gloriously 
he  was  saved  from  doubt  as  follows : 

“  Salvation  from  doubts  that  I  am  now  and 
forever  wholly  the  Lord’s.  This  is  the  most 
astonishing  triumph  of  grace  over  a  tempera¬ 
ment  naturally  melancholic — an  introspecting,  self- 
anatomising,  and  self-accusing  style  of  piety,  char¬ 
acteristic  of  my  ancestry.  Perfect  rest  from  all 
apprehension  of  future  ill.  Salvation  from  worry 
is  no  small  thing;  especially  in  the  case  of  one 
whose  views  of  life  are  strongly  tinged  with 
indigo.  I  believe  that  Jesus,  who  is  the  Head  over 
all  things  to  His  Church,  has  the  program  of  my 
best  possible  future.  My  only  anxiety,  moment  by 
moment,  is  this — Am  I  now  led  by  the  Spirit  of 
God  ?  ” 

What  shall  the  message  of  the  Gospel  Preacher 
be?  We  cannot  answer  this  question  better  than 
to  place  here  the  testimony  of  Dr.  T.  Dinsdale 
Young,  of  London,  England.  Dr.  Young  prob¬ 
ably  preaches  to  the  largest  congregation  of  any 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


117 


Methodist  preacher  in  Europe  or  America,  and  the 
striking  thing  about  it  is  that  this  greatest  of 
Methodist  congregations  come  to  hear  one  of  the 
most  orthodox  and  evangelical  Methodist  preachers 
in  all  Methodism. 

Touching  his  creed  or  the  things  he  believes  and 
preaches,  Dr.  Young  says: 

“  I  have  always  held  and  preached  the  absolute 
finality  of  Holy  Scripture  as  a  Divine  Revelation. 
My  persuasion  ever  deepens  that  if  we  are  halting 
in  our  testimony  to  the  absolute  inspiration  of  the 
Bible  we  shall  fail  in  our  mission  as  preachers  and 
churches.  Is  not  much  of  the  failure  today  at¬ 
tributable  to  this  cause  ? 

“  The  Deity  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  has 
always  been  the  central  and  basal  evangelical  truth 
to  me.  The  stupendous  miracle  of  the  Incarnation 
has  more  and  more  had  a  leading  place  in  my  doc¬ 
trinal  life  and  teaching.  The  Xirgin  Birth  I  ac¬ 
cept  as  Revelation  and  as  a  necessity  of  reason  too. 
To  me  it  is  unimaginable  that  the  God  Man  should 
have  an  ordinary  birth.  I  have  never  receded  from 
the  doctrine  of  the  Cross  which  I  received  in  my 
evangelical  youth.  I  was  trained  to  believe  that 
the  prime  function  of  the  pulpit  is  to  answer  the 
question :  *  What  must  I  do  to  be  saved  ?  ’  The 
soteriology  of  the  Reformers  is  my  message  of 
salvation  today.  The  Witness  of  the  Spirit  I  be¬ 
lieve  and  preach  as  the  privilege  of  all  saved  people. 

“  That  Christ  can  deliver  us  from  all  known  sin 


118 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


has  been  and  is  again  one  of  my  leading  doctrines. 
That  He  does  this  by  us  with  perfect  love  and  that 
this  entire  sanctification  or  Christian  holiness  is  re¬ 
ceived  by  faith  I  steadfastly  believe  and  declare. 
The  Second  Advent  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  has 
been  a  dear  and  delightful  doctrine  to  me.  I  re¬ 
gard  it  as  the  very  soul  of  New  Testament  teaching 
and  of  the  Old  Testament  too.  This  makes  my 
ministry  vivid,  intense  and  glad. 

“  The  morality  of  the  Cross  is  as  sublime  as  its 
theology.  When  we  believe  in  the  Crucified, 
Risen,  Enthroned,  Interceding,  Returning  Saviour 
it  makes  our  lives  sublime.  A  religion  of  perfect 
love  will  please  God  and  be  affirmed  of  men. 

“  I  sing  with  Charles  Wesley  amid  the  shades  of 
evening : 

“  ‘  Happy  if  with  my  latest  breath 
I  may  but  gasp  his  name, 

Preach  him  to  all,  and  cry  in  death. 

Behold,  Behold  the  Lamb  !  ’  ” 

Bishop  Kavanaugh  was  one  of  America’s  great¬ 
est  Gospel  preachers.  One  day  he  was  walking 
through  the  streets  of  a  city,  when  he  met  one  of 
its  prominent  physicians,  who  offered  him  a  seat 
in  his  carriage.  The  physician  was  an  infidel. 
After  a  while  the  conversation  turned  upon  reli¬ 
gion.  “  I  am  surprised,”  said  the  infidel  doctor, 
“  that  such  an  intelligent  man  as  you  are  should 
believe  such  an  old  fable  as  that.”  The  bishop  made 


PREACHING  THE  GOSPEL 


119 


no  immediate  reply,  but  sometime  afterwards 
said :  “  Doctor,  suppose  that  years  ago  some  one 
had  recommended  to  you  a  prescription  for  pul¬ 
monary  consumption,  and  given  you  directions 
concerning  it,  and  you  had  procured  the  prescrip¬ 
tion  and  taken  it  according  to  order,  and  had  been 
cured  of  the  terrible  disease.  Suppose  that  you  had 
used  the  prescription  in  your  practice  ever  since, 
and  had  never  known  it  to  fail  when  taken  ac¬ 
cording  to  directions,  what  would  you  say  of  the 
man  who  could  not  believe  in  nor  would  not  try 
your  prescription?”  “  I  should  say  he  was  a 
fool,”  replied  the  physician.  “  Twenty-five  years 
ago  I  tried  the  power  of  God’s  grace.  It  made  a 
different  man  of  me.  All  these  years  I  have 
preached  salvation  to  others,  and  wherever  it  has 
been  accepted  I  have  never  known  it  to  fail.  I 
have  seen  it  make  the  proud  man  humble,  the 
drunken  man  temperate,  the  profane  man  pure  in 
speech,  the  dishonest,  true.  The  rich  and  the  poor, 
the  learned  and  the  unlearned,  the  old  and  the 
young  have  been  healed  of  their  diseases.”  “  You 
have  caught  me  fairly,  bishop;  I  have  been  a  fool,” 
said  the  physician. 


XI 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY  AND  THE  OLD 

TIME  RELIGION 

“Bring  us  back  the  Amen  Corner  that  has  long  been 
frozen  out, 

For  nothing  scares  the  devil  like  a  grand  old  Metho¬ 
dist  shout. 

Bring  back  the  faith  of  the  fathers,  its  spinal  columns 
and  grip, 

In  place  of  the  limp,  loose,  wriggling  of  a  Higher - 
Critic-ship. 

Bring  back  the  hot  experience,  that  an  angel  might 
rehearse, 

For  that  sigh  in  the  swaddling  bands  of  a  little 
threadbare  verse. 

“Bring  back  the  cross  as  a  refuge  from  Sinai, 
lightning-scarred, 

Conversion  through  deep  conviction,  and  not  through 
signing  a  card. 

Bring  back  a  full  salvation,  the  flower  of  perfect  love, 

Till  the  Church  is  filled  with  the  fragrance  of  Para¬ 
dise  above. 

Bring  back  for  us,  Oh  Holy  Spirit,  whatever  we  have 
lost — 

The  might,  the  joy,  the  abandon,  of  fiery  Pentecost.’" 

— A.  J.  Hough. 

WE  are  in  perilous  times, — times  of  unrest, 
turmoil,  doubt,  skepticism,  agnosticism, 
infidelity,  ultra  worldliness.  The  greatest 
peril  to  the  Church  is  the  widespread  new  theology 

120 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 


121 


teachings  which  are  coming  in  like  a  flood.  Presi¬ 
dent  Strong,  of  Rochester,  N.  Y.,  addressed  the 
McCormick  Seminary,  Chicago,  a  few  years  ago 
on  the  new  theology.  In  a  most  scholarly  manner 
he  showed  the  fallacies  and  failures  of  this  new 
fad  which  has  almost  destroyed  the  power  of  our 
theological  seminaries.  He  said  that  this  new  the¬ 
ology  was  bad  metaphysics,  bad  morals,  and  bad 
theology.  He  showed  how  it  was  impossible  for  a 
man  who  accepted  this  theology  to  pray  and  to 
worship  Christ.  With  his  splendid  oratory  and 
magnificent  scholarship  he  revealed  what  many  of 
us  have  known  for  a  long  time :  that  the  new  the¬ 
ology  leads  directly  to  atheism;  that  men  denied 
first  the  authority  of  the  Bible,  then  the  authority 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  at  last,  as  some  of  the  pro¬ 
fessors  in  the  universities  now  do,  deny  the  ex¬ 
istence  of  God. 

Some  time  before  he  died  General  Booth  uttered 
this  significant  prophecy: 

“  I  consider  that  the  chief  dangers  that  confront 
the  coming  century  will  be :  Religion  without  the 
Holy  Ghost,  Christianity  without  Christ,  Forgive¬ 
ness  without  Regeneration,  Morality  without  God, 
and  Heaven  without  Hell.,, 

Bishop  Hurst,  who  is  eminent  as  a  scholar, 
linguist,  theologian,  historian,  and  teacher,  gives 
us  a  very  clear  and  explicit  setting  of  the  new  the¬ 
ology  in  his  book  on  Rationalism.  In  defining 
Rationalism  he  is  setting  forth  exactly  the  main 


122 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 


errors  and  teachings  of  the  thing  we  call  the  new 
theology.  He  says : 

“  1.  The  errors  of  Rationalism  do  not  consist  of 
applying  reason  to  divine  truth,  for  truth  cannot 
be  appropriated  if  reason  is  suppressed  or  violated. 
Its  errors  lie  in  the  following : 

“(a)  Pelagian  rejection  of  the  assistance  of 
grace. 

“(b)  Dependence  upon  mere  intellectuality  di¬ 
vorced  from  rightly  ordered  affections  and  the  will. 

“(c)  A  rejection  or  minimising  of  a  super¬ 
natural  revelation. 

“(d)  A  repudiation  more  or  less  complete  of 
authority — biblical  or  ecclesiastical,  or  both.” 

A  recent  writer,  Mr.  Weddell,  institutes  a 
comparison  between  the  new  theology  and  the  old 
thus : 

“  1.  The  new  theology  says  that  the  Bible  con¬ 
tains  the  Word  of  God.  The  old  theology  says 
that  the  Bible  is  the  Word  of  God;  the  Word 
judging  man  rather  than  man  judging  the  Word. 

“  2.  The  new  theology  says  that  Jesus  Christ  is 
a  son  of  God.  The  old  theology  says  that  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  Son  of  God. 

“  3.  The  new  theology  says  that  the  birth  of 
Jesus  was  natural.  The  old  theology  says  that  the 
birth  of  Jesus  was  supernatural. 

“  4.  The  new  theology  says  that  the  death  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  exemplary.  The  old  theology 
says  that  the  death  of  Jesus  Christ  was  expiatory. 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 


123 


“  5.  The  new  theology  says  that  the  life  of 
Christ  is  the  life  He  lived  here  on  earth.  The  old 
theology  says  that  the  true  life  of  Christ  is  the  life 
He  is  living  for  us  at  the  throne,  this  side  His 
bodily  resurrection. 

“  6.  The  new  theology  says  that  character  is 
built  up,  like  Babel,  from  beneath.  The  old  the¬ 
ology  says  that  real  lasting  character  is  something 
that  comes  down,  like  the  New  Jerusalem,  from 
above. 

“  7.  The  new  theology  says  that  man  is  the 
product  of  evolution.  The  old  theology  says  that 
man  is  God’s  special  creation. 

“  8.  The  new  theology  says  that  man  is  the  un¬ 
fortunate  victim  of  environment.  The  old  the^ 
ology  says  that  man  is  an  actual  sinner ,  and 
utterly  lost. 

“  9.  The  new  theology  says  that  man  is  justified 
by  works  of  his  own.  The  old  theology  says  that 
man  is  justified  by  faith  in  the  atoning  Blood  of 
Christ. 

“  10.  The  new  theology  says  that  the  new  life 
and  mature  Christianity  come  by  natural  develop¬ 
ment  of  the  best  that  is  in  us.  The  old  theology 
says  that  it  comes  by  miraculous  regeneration  and 
sanctification  through  the  Holy  Spirit. 

“11.  The  new  theology  lightly  says  that  proph¬ 
ecy  and  miracles  are  of  negligible  value.  The  old 
theology  reverently  accepts  them  as  from  God  and 
authenticating  the  Word. 


124 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 


“  12.  The  new  theology  says  we  should  aim  to 
adjust  the  Gospel  to  the  times,  the  Zeitgeist.  The 
old  theology  says  we  should  seek  only  to  adjust  the 
times  to  the  Gospel,  God’s  gracious  Message  to  all 
times. 

44  13.  The  new  theology  says  that  the  Gospel 
was  sent  to  save  the  world.  The  old  theology  says 
that  the  Gospel  was  sent  to  save  souls  out  of  the 
world. 

44  14.  The  new  theology  sets  its  hope  of  the 
future  on  men’s  civilisation.  The  old  theology  sets 
its  hope  on  Christ's  Kingdom ,  spiritually  existent 
today  in  men’s  hearts,  and  actually  and  gloriously 
so  tomorrow  in  all  the  earth. 

44  Hence  we  do  devoutly  pray,  4  Thy  Kingdom 
come;  Thy  will  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  in 
heaven.’  ” 

Well  has  Dr.  Forsyth,  of  London,  England,  said 
in  his  “Yale  Lectures,”  (Positive  Preaching  and 
the  Modern  Mind)  that  the  new  theology 
might  be  more  appropriately  called  a  44  New 
Metaphysics  ” — it  is  less  a  theology  than  a 
44  theosophy.”  It  is  in  a  sense  that  44  wizard 
twilight  ”  Coleridge  knew,  and  in  its  soft,  sub¬ 
dued  colours,  Paul’s  doctrine  of  sin  painted  in 
awful  and  lurid  colours,  fades  into  a  colour¬ 
less  nothingness,  and  the  dazzling  glory  of  the 
Christ — His  immaculate  conception,  His  deity,  His 
miracle-working  work,  His  authority,  His  atone¬ 
ment  for  sin,  His  resurrection — all  are  toned  down 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 


125 


and  sweetly  shaded  to  hide  the  rugged  super¬ 
natural,  and  to  shut  out  of  view  the  unexplainable 
mystery  of  the  miraculous. 

Touching  now  the  Old  Time  Religion,  we  want 
to  observe  some  of  its  chief  and  triumphant 
characteristics. 

When  George  Whitefield  was  shaking  England 
with  the  thunders  of  his  Revival  preaching,  a  cer¬ 
tain  Baronet  said  to  a  friend,  Mr.  B.,  “  This  Whit¬ 
field  is  truly  a  great  man — he  is  the  founder  of  a 
new  religion.” 

“  A  new  religion !  ”  exclaimed  Mr.  B. 

“  Yes,”  said  the  baronet.  “  What  do  you 
call  it?” 

“  Nothing  but  the  old  religion  revived  with  en¬ 
ergy,  and  heated  as  if  the  minister  really  meant 
what  he  said,”  replied  Mr.  B. 

Bishop  Ryle,  of  Liverpool,  England,  speaking  in 
his  day  on  the  religious  situation,  said,  “  Our  chief 
medicine  for  the  spiritual  diseases  of  the  nine¬ 
teenth  century  is  a  bold  and  unhesitating  inquiry 
for  the  old  paths,  old  doctrines  and  the  faith  of  the 
days  that  are  past.” 

( 1 )  The  Old  Time  Religion  has  been  character¬ 
ised  by  deep  conviction  of  Sin.  Peter  Bolder, 
when  trying  to  lead  John  Wesley  into  saving  faith, 
said  of  him,  “  He  wept  bitterly  while  I  was  talking 
upon  the  subject  and  afterwards  asked  me  to  pray 
for  him.  I  can  freely  affirm  that  he  is  a  poor, 
broken-hearted  sinner,  hungering  after  the  right- 


126 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 


eousness  of  Christ.”  The  soul  under  deep  con¬ 
viction  of  Sin  says: 

Guilty,  I  stand  before  Thy  face; 

On  me,  I  feel  Thy  wrath  abide; 

’Tis  just,  the  sentence  should  take  place; 

’Tis  just;  but  O  Thy  Son  hath  died. 

(2)  The  Old  Time  Religion  stands  for  radical 
and  thorough  conversion. 

Thomas  Walsh  was  brought  up  an  Irish  Catho¬ 
lic,  but  under  the  preaching  of  the  East  Meth¬ 
odists,  got  under  conviction.  “  The  arrows  of  the 
Almighty,”  he  says,  “  stuck  fast  in  me  and  my  very 
bones  trembled,  because  of  my  sins.” 

Under  a  sermon  on  “  Who  is  this  that  cometh 
from  Edom  with  dyed  garments  from  Bozrah,”  he 
got  gloriously  converted.  “  I  was  divinely  as¬ 
sured,”  he  says,  “  that  God  for  Christ’s  sake  had 
forgiven  me  all  my  sins;  the  Spirit  of  God  bore 
witness  with  my  spirit  that  I  was  a  child  of  God. 
I  broke  with  tears  of  joy  and  love.”  He  became 
one  of  the  marvels  of  early  Methodism — a  miracle 
of  grace  himself,  and  a  mighty  preacher  of  the 
saving  Grace  of  God. 

(3)  The  Old  Time  Religion  proclaims  a  full 
redemption. 

In  the  old  Methodist  hymn  book,  a  section  is 
devoted  to  “  Seeking  for  full  Redemption,”  be¬ 
cause  this  was  a  great  truth  among  the  Methodists. 

Dr.  Daniel  Steele  was  a  wonderful  example  of 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 


127 


this  grace.  Under  the  revival,  conductd  by  A.  B. 
Earle,  he  says :  “  I  went  where  St  Paul  did,  when 
he  heard  words  not  lawful  to  be  uttered.  Suddenly 
I  became  conscious  of  a  mysterious  power  exerting 
itself  upon  my  sensibilities.  Christ  became  so  un¬ 
speakably  precious  to  me,  that  I  instantly  dropped 
all  earthly  good,  reputation,  property,  friends, 
family,  everything  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  and 
my  soul  cried  out : 

“  None  but  Christ  to  me  be  given, 

None  but  Christ  in  earth  or  heaven.” 

It  was  then  that  Dr.  Steele  entered  with  the  life 
of  full  redemption  which  made  him  to  our  Church 
the  John  Fletcher  of  our  later  Methodism. 

(4)  The  Old  Time  Religion  has  brought  some 
wonderful  revivals  of  religion. 

Those  revivals  have  been  characterised  by  the 
most  extraordinary  outpourings  of  the  Spirit  of 
God. 

A  preacher  said :  “  Whitefield,  morning  and 
evening,  preached  to  nearly  seven  or  eight  thou¬ 
sand  people  and  God’s  power  was  so  much  amongst 
us  at  the  afternoon  sermon  that  the  cries  and 
groans  of  the  people  would  have  drowned  my 
voice.”  In  one  of  his  meetings  it  is  said  that  there 
were  thirty  thousand  present  and  about  ten  thou¬ 
sand  were  converted. 

Through  its  continuous  and  great  revival, 
Methodism  grew  in  the  early  days  by  leaps  and 


128 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 


bounds.  In  a  little  over  a  quarter  of  a  century,  it 
had  grown  from  65,000  members  to  nearly  350,- 
000.  Abel  Stevens  attributes  this  growth  largely 
to  its  revivalistic  fervour  and  passion. 

That  great  preacher  of  Eastern  Methodism, 
Charles  Pitman,  was  sent  to  St.  George’s  M.  E. 
church  in  1836.  In  the  fall  of  that  year,  there 
were  indications  of  a  revival.  Pitman  came 
into  the  church  one  Sunday  night  and  preached 
from  Psa.  126 : 6.  As  he  preached  the  congrega¬ 
tion  became  rapt  in  amazement  at  his  wonderful 
utterances  and  the  people  were  swayed  like  the 
wind  sways  the  growing  grain.  A  wave  of  heav¬ 
enly  power  swept  over  the  people  that  was  inde¬ 
scribable.  Scores  rushed  to  the  altar  crying  for 
mercy  and  saints  shouted  the  praises  of  God. 
Within  three  months  over  thirteen  hundred  souls 
found  the  Lord;  seven  hundred  and  fifty  were 
added  to  St.  George’s  church.  Oh  for  some  of  the 
old-fashioned  revivals  to  come  again  to  the  church, 
but  it  is  useless  to  hope  for  them  unless  our 
churches  are  willing  to  pay  the  old  time  price  for 
them ! 

(5)  The  Old  Time  Religion  brings  triumphant 
dying. 

A  dying  saint  said  “  he  was  going  to  that  coun¬ 
try  he  had  all  his  life  wished  to  see,”  and  just 
before  he  died  he  burst  into  singing  of  the  things 
he  saw. 

How  much  sweeter  to  die  that  way  than  like  the 


THE  NEW  THEOLOGY 


129 


learned  philosopher  of  one  of  our  colleges — a  man 
who  had  been  a  leader  in  the  “  religious  educa¬ 
tion  ”  movement  of  recent  years,  but  who  had  been 
a  doubter  of  religious  realities — when  he  was 
dying  he  said :  “  I  do  not  know  where  I  am  going.” 
The  old  time  religion  is  good  to  live  by  and  glori¬ 
ous  in  the  hour  of  death. 

(6)  The  Old  Time  Religion  begets  a  passion  for 
soul  saving.  John  Smith,  the  mighty  soul  winner 
of  England,  said:  “  I  am  a  broken-hearted  man; 
not  for  myself,  but  on  account  of  others ;  God  has 
given  me  such  a  sight  of  the  value  of  precious  souls 
that  I  cannot  live  if  souls  are  not  saved.  Give  me 
souls  or  else  I  die.” 

Doddridge  said,  “  I  long  for  the  conversion  of 
souls  more  sensibly  than  for  anything  else.  Me- 
thinks  I  could  not  only  labour  for  it  but  die  for  it 
with  pleasure.” 

Whitefield  cried  out :  “  I  have  prayed  a  thousand 
times  till  the  sweat  has  dropped  from  my  face  like 
rain,  that  God  would  not  let  me  enter  the  ministry 
till  He  thrust  me  forth  to  His  work.” 

Wesley  said :  “  I  would  throw  by  all  the  libraries 
in  the  world  rather  than  be  guilty  of  the  loss  of 
one  soul.” 

Rankin,  of  early  Methodism,  said :  “  I  could  lay 
down  my  life  if  I  might  be  instrumental  in  saving 
one  soul  from  everlasting  ruin.” 


XII 


PERFECT  LOVE 

To  be  cleansed  from  sin  is  a  preparation  for  growth. 
My  soul  is  confidentially  engaged  with  God. 

To  be  alive  to  God  is ,  as  it  were,  two  heavens. 

O  run  the  race ,  fight  the  battle ,  conquer  through 
the  blood. 

I  am  nearer  the  throne,  and  never  was  so  dependent 
on  Jesus. 

I  sink  at  Christ’s  feet  and  say  Glory,  Glory! 

The  world,  the  noise  of  self  is  all  gone,  and  the  mind 
bears  the  full  stamp  of  God’s  image. — BramwEu,. 

THE  great  subject  of  Full  Salvation  has  been 
written  about  and  preached  under  a  number 
of  names  or  terms,  such  as :  “  Entire  Sanc¬ 
tification,”  “  Christian  Perfection,”  “  Full  Re¬ 
demption,”  "  The  Fulness  of  the  Blessing,”  “  The 
Rest  of  Faith,”  “  Saved  to  the  Uttermost,”  “  Full 
Assurance  of  Faith.”  The  early  Methodists  were 
wont  to  use  the  term  “  Perfect  Love,”  a  great  deal. 
One  of  the  greatest  books  ever  written  upon  the 
subject  of  full  salvation  is  entitled  “  Perfect 
Love.”  This  book,  by  Rev.  John  A.  Wood,  has 
had  the  widest  reading  of  any  holiness  book. 
Unquestionably  it  sets  forth  the  doctrine  of 
Christian  Holiness  with  a  clearness  and  ful¬ 
ness  and  sweetness  that  makes  it  the  best  ex- 

130 


PERFECT  LOVE 


131 


position  of  the  doctrine  that  is  to  be  found  in 
any  volume. 

I  feel  convinced  that  the  cause  of  Christian 
Holiness  has  been  hurt  seriously  by  so  many  get- 
ting  away  from  the  thought  that  the  deep  experi¬ 
ence  of  entire  sanctification  is  nothing  more  or  less 
than  Perfect  Love. 

We  have  a  lot  of  holiness  so-called  of  the 
carping,  criticising,  antagonising,  censorious,  fire¬ 
eating,  noisy,  rackety,  rough  and  boisterous  kind 
that  do  little  else  than  alienate  a  lot  of  good  people 
from  it. 

A  development  and  cultivation  of  the  “  Perfect 
Love  ”  type  of  Christian  Holiness,  I  am  persuaded, 
would  do  much  to  further  the  experience  and  doc¬ 
trine  among  professing  Christians. 

Let  us  consider  some  aspects  of  “  Perfect  Love.” 
Listen  to  Wesley  as  he  sings  of  it : 

“  O  glorious  hope  of  Perfect  Love ! 

It  lifts  me  up  to  things  above. 

It  bears  on  eagles’  wings ; 

It  gives  my  ravished  soul  a  taste, 

And  makes  me  for  some  moments  feast 
And  Jesus’  priests  and  kings.” 

Wesley  defines  the  experience  thus :  “  The  lov¬ 
ing  God  with  all  our  heart,  mind,  soul  and 
strength ;  this  implies  that  no  wrong  temper,  none 
contrary  to  love  remains  in  the  soul  and  that  all 
the  thoughts,  words  and  actions  are  governed  by 
pure  love.” 


132 


PERFECT  LOVE 


Writing  upon  the  Excellency  of  Divine  Love, 
Wesley  says:  “Love  is  the  fulfilling  of  the  law, 
the  end  of  the  commandment.”  Very  excellent 
things  are  spoken  of  love;  it  is  the  essence,  the 
spirit,  the  life  of  all  virtue.  It  is  not  only  the  first 
and  great  command,  but  it  is  all  the  command¬ 
ments  in  one.  Whatsoever  things  are  just,  what¬ 
soever  things  are  pure,  whatsoever  things  are 
amiable,  or  honourable;  if  there  be  any  virtue,  if 
there  be  any  praise,  they  are  all  comprised  in  this 
one  word,  love.  In  this  is  perfection,  glory,  and 
happiness;  the  royal  law  of  heaven  and  earth  is 
this :  “  Thou  shalt  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  and  with  all  thy 
mind,  and  with  all  thy  strength.” 

Lady  Huntingdon,  famous  with  the  early 
Methodists,  had  a  deep  experience  of  Perfect 
Love  and  at  one  time  gave  her  testimony  in  the 
following  words :  “  My  whole  heart  has  not  one 
single  grain,  this  moment,  of  thirst  after  approba¬ 
tion.  I  feel  alone  with  God;  He  fills  the  whole 
void ;  I  have  not  one  wish,  one  will,  one  desire  but 
in  Him;  He  hath  set  my  feet  in  a  large  room.  I 
have  wondered  and  stood  amased  that  God  should 
make  a  conquest  of  all  within  me  by  love.” 

Note  the  words :  “  A  conquest  of  all  within  me 
by  love.” 

Archbishop  Usher  describes  a  Christian  as  one 
who  has  a  “  heart  so  all-flowing  with  the  love  of 
God  as  continually  to  offer  up  every  thought,  word 


PERFECT  LOVE 


133 


and  work  as  a  spiritual  sacrifice  acceptable  to  God 
through  Christ.” 

The  language  of  the  sanctified  soul  is : 

“  Thee  will  I  love,  my  joy,  my  crown; 

Thee  will  I  love,  my  Lord,  my  God; 

Thee  will  I  love,  beneath  Thy  frown 
Or  smile,  Thy  scepter  or  Thy  rod. 

What  though  my  flesh  and  heart  decay ! 

Thee  will  I  love  in  endless  day ! 

Mrs.  Edwards,  wife  of  President  Edwards, 
says,  “  In  1742  I  sought  and  obtained  the  full 
assurance  of  faith.  I  can  not  find  language  to 
express  how  certain  the  everlasting  love  of  God 
appeared :  the  everlasting  mountains  and  hills  were 
but  shadows  to  it.  My  safety  and  happiness,  and 
eternal  enjoyment  of  God’s  immutable  love,  seemed 
as  durable  and  unchangeable  as  God  Himself. 
Melted  and  overcome  by  the  sweetness  of  this 
assurance,  I  fell  into  a  great  flow  of  tears,  and 
could  not  forbear  weeping  aloud.” 

“  The  presence  of  God  was  so  near  and  so  real 
that  I  seemed  scarcely  conscious  of  anything  else. 
My  soul  was  filled  and  overwhelmed  with  light, 
and  love,  and  joy  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  seemed 
just  ready  to  go  away  from  the  body.  This  exalta¬ 
tion  of  soul  subsided  into  heavenly  calm  and  a  rest 
of  soul  in  God,  which  was  even  sweeter  than  what 
preceded  it.” 

Perfect  Love  is  another  term  for  the  Canaan 
experience.  Rev.  Dr.  Payson  says,  “  Were  I  to 


13  4 


PERFECT  LOVE 


adopt  the  figurative  language  of  Bunyan,  I  might 
date  this  letter  from  the  land  of  Beulah,  of  which 
I  have  been  for  some  weeks  a  happy  resident. 

“  The  Celestial  City  is  full  in  my  view ;  its 
glories  beam  upon  me;  its  breezes  fan  me;  its 
odours  are  wafted  to  me;  its  sounds  strike  my  ears, 
and  its  spirit  is  breathed  into  my  heart.  Nothing 
separates  me  from  it  but  the  river  of  death,  which 
now  appears  but  as  an  insignificant  rill,  that  may 
be  crossed  at  a  single  step  whenever  God  gives 
permission. 

“  The  Sun  of  righteousness  has  been  gradually 
drawing  nearer  and  nearer,  appearing  larger  and 
brighter  as  He  approached,  and  now  He  fills  the 
whole  hemisphere,  pouring  forth  a  flood  of  glory, 
in  which  I  seem  to  float  like  an  insect  in  the  beams 
of  the  sun,  exulting,  yet  almost  trembling,  while  I 
gaze  upon  this  excessive  brightness,  and  wonder¬ 
ing,  with  unutterable  wonder,  why  God  should 
deign  thus  to  shine  upon  a  simple  worm.” 

After  experiencing  this  great  increase  of  faith, 
Dr.  Payson  cried  out,  in  view  of  his  former 
distressing  doubts,  and  the  great  loss  he  had 
thereby  sustained  in  his  own  enjoyment  and 
usefulness,  “  O  that  I  had  known  this  twenty 
years  ago !  ” 

When  Bishop  Whatcoat  got  the  blessing  he  said, 
“  My  spirit  was  drawn  out  and  engaged  in  wrest¬ 
ling  with  God  for  about  two  hours  in  a  manner  I 
never  knew  before.  Suddenly  I  was  stripped  of  all 


PERFECT  LOVE 


135 


but  love.  I  was  all  love  and  prayer  and  praise,  and 
in  everything  giving  thanks,  I  continued  wanting 
nothing  for  soul  or  body  more  than  I  received  from 
day  to  day.”  Lady  Huntingdon,  of  early  Meth¬ 
odism,  says,  “  I  have  wondered  and  stood  amazed 
that  God  should  make  a  conquest  of  all  within  me 
by  love.” 

A  certain  writer  sets  forth  the  following  ten 
marks  of  Perfect  Love : 

1.  Easy  victory  over  sin. 

2.  Oneness  with  Christ. 

3.  No  apprehension  of  future  ill. 

4.  Insatiable  desire  to  communicate  the  love 
of  Christ  to  unbelievers. 

5.  Increased  beneficence,  enlarged  liberality. 

6.  Hunger  for  the  word  of  God. 

7.  Duty  changed  to  delight. 

8.  Humility. 

9.  Chronic  faith. 

10.  Joy  and  power. 

Perfect  Love  is  an  experience  which  all  God’s 
children  may  enjoy,  but  alas!  so  many  professing 
Godliness  show  no  interest  in  the  deep  things  of 
God.  Others  there  are  whose  reasonings  and  phi¬ 
losophy  keep  them  from  attaining  the  fulness  of 
the  blessing. 

Among  the  mighty  men  of  the  Philadelphia  Con¬ 
ference  was  Rev.  Dr.  Hodgson.  He  was  a  great 
preacher  and  leader  of  the  hosts  of  the  Lord.  In  a 
convention  of  Methodists  in  Philadelphia,  1840, 


136 


PERFECT  LOVE 


Dr.  Hodgson  read  a  paper  on  “  The  Type  of 
Piety  Necessary  to  the  Highest  Prosperity  of  the 
Church,”  in  which  he  said:  “If  the  inspired  writ¬ 
ers  pray  that  the  people  of  God  may  be  made  and 
kept  entirely  holy  in  this  life;  if  they  declare  it  to 
be  the  design  of  God,  in  the  plan  of  salvation,  that 
Christians  should  be  thus  purified  and  preserved; 
if,  in  accordance  with  these  facts,  entire  holiness 
is  explicitly  and  peremptorily  enjoined  by  the  great 
Author  of  our  salvation;  if  the  apostles  exhort 
Christians  to  direct  efforts  to  attain  to  it;  if  they 
propose  it  as  the  constant  aim  of  Christians;  if 
they  declare  it  to  be  the  great  object  of  all  their 
teaching  and  other  labours;  if  entire  holiness  is  the 
standard  to  which  they  sought  to  conform  their 
own  experience;  if  divine  influences,  both  neces¬ 
sary  and  sufficient  to  place  and  maintain  Chris¬ 
tians  in  that  state,  are  promised;  further,  if  it  is 
alleged  to  be  a  fact  in  the  divine  administration 
that  God  does  confer  the  promised  grace  on  those 
that  seek  it;  and  if  examples  are  recorded  in  which 
it  was  attained  and  exemplified,  what  remains  but 
that  I  must  accept  the  doctrine  and  maintain  it? 
I  love  it.  I  love  those  that  love  it.  And  I  love 
them  the  more  because  they  love  it.  That  there 
are  doctrines  connected  with  it  which  are  not  true, 
and  imperfect  expositions  of  it,  and  measures  em¬ 
ployed  for  its  promotion  which  are  open  to  criti¬ 
cism,  and  dangers  to  guard  against,  I  do  not  deny, 
but  I  AM  DETERMINED  NOT  TO  BE  THE  MERE 


PERFECT  LOVE 


137 


WATCHDOG  OP  ORTHODOXY,  BARKING  AND  HOWL¬ 
ING,  AND  KEPT  BACK  BY  AN  INVISIBLE  CHAIN, 
WHILE  MY  BRETHREN,  WITH  SOME  ERRORS,  AS  I 
SUPPOSE,  GO  INTO  THE  BANQUETING  HOUSE  OE  THE 
GREAT  KING,  AND  SIT  DOWN  TO  THE  EEAST  OE  EAT 
THINGS.  I  INTEND  TO  GO  IN  WITH  THEM  AND 
PARTAKE  OE  THE  RICH  PROVISION."” 

Hear  further  testimonies  from  those  who  went 
into  the  king’s  banqueting  house  and  sat  down  to 
the  “  feast  of  fat  things  ”  and  testify  thus: 

Rev.  Henry  Smith,  for  many  years  a  prominent 
preacher  in  the  Baltimore  Conference,  says: 
“  After  a  long  and  painful  struggle,  my  soul,  by 
simple  believing,  stepped  into  liberty.  I  am  happy, 
solidly  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect  love.” 
The  high  plane  of  perfect  love  is  not  reached  by 
any  without  a  hard  struggle;  but  when  reached, 
the  believer  is  regarded  a  thousand- fold. 

Mrs.  Phoebe  Palmer,  who  during  her  life  led 
twelve  thousand  souls  to  Christ  for  pardon,  and 
thousands  over  into  the  land  of  perfect  love,  in 
speaking  of  the  blessing  says :  “  I  rejoice  in  the 
assurance  that  I  was  wholly  sanctified  throughout 
body,  soul  and  spirit.  O,  with  what  triumph  did 
my  soul  expatiate  on  the  infinitude  of  the  atone¬ 
ment!  I  saw  its  unbounded  efficacy  as  sufficiency 
to  cleanse  a  world  of  sinners,  and  present  them 
faultless  before  the  throne.  I  felt  that  I  was  en¬ 
abled  to  plunge  and  lose  myself  in  this  ocean  of 
purity.  Yes, 


138 


PERFECT  LOVE 


“  Plunged  in  the  Godhead’s  deepest  sea, 

And  lost  in  love’s  immensity.” 

Rev.  William  Bramwell  rejoices  in  the  Lord  in 
the  following  words :  “  The  Lord,  for  whom  I  had 
waited,  came  suddenly  to  the  temple  of  my  heart. 
My  soul  was  all  wonder,  love  and  praise.”  And 
for  twenty-six  years  he  walked  in  this  glorious 
liberty. 

Dr.  Upham,  one  of  the  noble  saints  of  God  on 
earth,  says :  “  I  was  distinctly  conscious  when  I 
reached  it.  I  was  redeemed  by  a  mighty  power, 
and  filled  with  the  blessing  of  perfect  love.” 


XIII 


IF  I  LOSE  MY  FAITH 

“Faith  is  the  Christian's  right  eye,”  as  Thomas 
Brooks,  the  Puritan,  said,  “  through  zvhich  he  can  see 
for  Christ;  faith  is  the  Christian's  right  hand,  by 
which  he  can  do  for  Christ;  faith  is  the  Christian's 
tongue,  by  which  he  can  speak  for  Christ;  faith  is  the 
Christian's  vital  spirit,  by  which  he  can  act  for  Christ.” 

Faith  is  a  principle  pertaining  to  eternity  as  well 
as  time. 

To  cherish  infidelity  is  to  paralyse  one  of  the  noblest 
faculties  of  the  soul. 

f  |  ^HIS  age  is  peculiarly  perilous  to  faith.  Un- 

I  belief,  skepticism  and  infidelity  meet  us  at 
every  turn.  The  enemy  has  come  in  like  a 
flood  and  put  out  the  fires  of  faith  and  the  damps 
of  unbelief  fill  the  air  and  choke  the  soul.  Like 
Ezekiel’s  army  of  dry  bones,  we  behold  multitudes 
with  no  breath  in  them. 

There  is  a  famine  of  faith  in  the  land.  We 
build  quarter  million,  half  million  and  million 
dollar  churches,  but  faith  is  not  found  in  them; 
we  organise  great  concerns  but  they  carry  on  with¬ 
out  faith;  we  pour  out  millions  in  schools  and  col¬ 
leges  but  they  fast  become  slaughter  houses  of 
faith  and  their  products  canned  goods  only. 

In  one  of  my  day  dreams  I  met  Faith  coming 

139 


140 


IF  I  LOSE  MY  FAITH 


out  of  Church ;  her  face  was  sad,  tears  were  in  her 
eyes.  I  said:  “Faith,  why  weepest  thou?”  She 
said,  “  I  went  into  my  Father’s  house,  I  went  to 
the  pulpit,  but  when  the  preacher  saw  me  he  hastily 
removed  me,  saying  that  Reason  alone  would  be 
allowed  to  sit  with  him.  I  went  to  the  choir,  but 
they  put  me  out,  saying  that  ‘  Sentiment  was  all 
they  wanted,  not  Faith.’  I  went  to  the  prayer¬ 
meeting,  but  they  dismissed  me  from  there,  saying 
that  ‘  Good  Works  were  all  they  cared  for.’  I 
went  to  the  Upper  Room,  but  it  had  not  been 
swept  or  garnished  for  many  a  month,  as  no  one 
used  it  now.  I  went  to  the  Supper  Room,  and  they 
bade  me  be  gone,  as  ‘  Service  took  the  place  of 
Faith  with  them.’  ”  “  But,”  I  said,  “  Faith,  hast 

thou  not  friends  in  the  schools?  Why  not  go 
there?”  Faith  answered,  “Time  was  when  the 
professors  received  me,  but  not  now.  I  have  been 
turned  out  of  doors  by  men  of  learning  and  the 
students  have  mocked  me.  Intellect  and  Pride  sit 
now  in  the  chief  seats  of  the  schools,  and  for  me 
there  is  no  place.”  “  But,  Faith,”  again  I  said, 
“  Why  not  go  to  the  homes ;  surely  there  must  be 
a  place  for  thee  there.”  And  Faith  replied,  “  Not 
so;  once  the  family  altar  was  removed,  I  was  dis¬ 
missed.  Jazz  music  and  songs  now  take  the  place 
of  the  songs  of  Zion;  newspapers  and  novels 
crowd  out  the  Bible;  the  voice  of  prayer  is  no 
longer  heard  and  mad  pleasure  takes  the  place  of 
quiet  repose  and  the  fear  of  God  seems  no  longer 


IF  I  LOSE  MY  FAITH 


141 


known.”  I  said,  “  Faith,  what  then  is  to  become 
of  thee?  ”  Faith  answered,  “  I  shall  remain  upon 
the  earth  as  an  outcast  among  the  many;  I  shall 
visit  the  humble  and  the  contrite  and  the  poor  in 
spirit.  I  shall  be  as  a  stranger  and  a  pilgrim 
till  these  evil  days  are  past.  It  is  dark  now,  but 
the  morning  will  break  again ;  the  long,  long 
night  shall  pass  away  and  the  Church  will  awake 
from  its  stupour  and  shake  off  the  fetters  of 
unbelief  and  will  open  its  doors  again  to  me  and 
the  schools  and  the  homes  will  welcome  me  once 
more.” 

Leaving  my  dream  and  coming  to  the  subject  in 
hand — “  If  I  lose  my  faith,”  let  me  set  down  a 
few  things  that  inevitably  happen  when  a  man 
loses  his  faith. 

1.  If  I  lose  my  faith  I  lose  my  Bible.  The  Bible 
continues  no  longer  to  be  the  word  of  the  Lord. 
It  becomes  a  bit  of  literature  only  made  up  of 
myth,  folk-lore,  patchwork,  etc.  It  is  no  longer  an 
inspired  book  and  therefore  fails  to  inspire  me. 
Its  inspiration  is  no  more  than  the  inspiration  of 
poets  or  sages  or  philosophies  of  ancient  days  or 
modern  times.  I  no  longer  read  it  with  reverence 
nor  hear  it  speak  from  its  depths  to  the  deepest 
needs  of  my  soul. 

2.  If  I  lose  my  faith  I  lose  my  God  and  Saviour. 
Wesley  sang : 

“  Spirit  of  Faith  come  down. 

Reveal  the  things  of  God, 


142 


IF  I  LOSE  MY  FAITH 


And  make  to  me  the  Godhead  known 
And  witness  with  the  blood.” 

When  I  lose  my  faith  God  becomes  obscured  to 
me  and  my  Saviour’s  face  is  hidden  and  His  voice 
I  hear  no  more.  God  becomes  an  unknown  Power 
and  a  Force  in  nature  and  Christ  becomes  a  strange 
figure  of  history — unique  and  wonderful  as  a  man, 
as  a  teacher,  hero  and  martyr.  He  is  no  longer 
my  “  Redeemer  from  all  Sin,”  "  The  Rose  of 
Sharon  and  the  Lily  of  the  Valley.”  No  more  is 
he  the  Captain  of  my  salvation  and  the  Lamb  of 
God  taking  away  my  sin. 

3.  If  I  lose  my  faith  I  lose  the  assurance  of  my 
salvation  and  the  forgiveness  of  my  sins.  I  shall 
sing  no  longer, 

“  Happy  day,  happy  day, 

When  Jesus  washed  my  sins  away.” 

Nor  can  I  sing: 

“  Blessed  assurance,  Jesus  is  mine; 

Oh  what  a  foretaste  of  glory  divine.” 

Sin  and  sins,  like  dark  heavy  clouds,  obscure 
my  skies  and  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  no  longer 
shines  with  healing  in  its  wings  in  my  soul. 
Doubt  takes  the  place  of  assurance,  darkness  the 
place  of  light,  fears  and  forebodings  possess  my 
soul  and  there  is  no  peace  and  no  holy  quiet  as  in 
other  days. 


IF  I  LOSE  MY  FAITH 


148 


4.  If  I  lose  my  faith  I  lose  my  hymn  book. 
Dear  to  me  next  to  my  Bible  is  the  old  hymn  book. 
With  my  faith  gone  the  old  hymns  are  meaning¬ 
less — so  much  poetry  only.  I  can  no  longer  sing : 

“  My  God  I  am  thine. 

What  a  comfort  divine, 

What  a  blessing  to  know 
That  Jesus  is  mine/’ 

“  Peace,  doubting  heart !  My  God’s  I  am. 

Who  formed  me  man,  forbids  me  fear; 

The  Lord  hath  called  me  by  my  name. 

The  Lord  protects,  forever  near; 

His  blood  for  me  did  once  atone, 

And  still  He  loves  and  guards  His  own.” 

“  My  God  is  reconciled, 

His  pardoning  voice  I  hear; 

He  owns  me  for  His  child, 

I  can  no  longer  fear. 

With  confidence  I  now  draw  nigh, 

And  Father,  Abba  Father,  cry !  ” 

5.  If  I  lose  my  faith  I  lose  Prayer  and  Com¬ 
munion  with  God. 

“  Prayer  is  the  soul’s  sincere  desire, 

Uttered  or  unexpressed. 

The  motion  of  a  hidden  fire 
That  trembles  in  the  breast.” 

In  prayer  my  soul  draws  near  to  God  in  the 
hour  of  need  and  He  meets  me  and  hears  and  an¬ 
swers.  “  Heaven  comes  down  my  soul  to  greet, 
and  glory  crowns  the  mercy  seat.”  Prayer  is  more 


144 


IF  I  LOSE  MY  FAITH 


than  asking ;  it  is  also  communion  with  God.  Such 
was  it  to  Moses  on  the  Mount  when  he  spake  face 
to  face  with  God  as  a  friend  speaks  to  a  friend, 
and  the  glory  settled  on  Moses’  face  and  the  skin 
of  his  face  shone  when  he  came  down  to  Aaron 
and  the  tribes.  Now  if  I  lose  my  faith  prayer  be¬ 
comes  to  me  of  no  avail,  because,  “  he  that  cometh 
to  God  must  believe  that  He  is,  and  that  He  is  a 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him.” 

6.  If  I  lose  my  faith  the  Christian  Religion  be¬ 
comes  only  one  of  many  religions  and  a  part  of  a 
big  cosmic  process.  When  faith  dies  out  religion 
is  viewed  as  an  intuitive  something  common  to  the 
race  and  may  be  dispensed  with  when  man  arrives 
at  that  place  of  proud  superior  (?)  intellect  where 
himself  becomes  a  god,  the  architect  of  his  own 
soul  and  the  captain  of  his  fate. 

7.  If  I  lose  my  faith  the  great  doctrines  of  grace 
are  replaced  by  those  of  modern  times  and  the 
faith  of  the  fathers  becomes  the  object  of  aversion 
and  attack.  The  doctrine  of  the  blood  of  Jesus 
atoning  for  sinners  becomes  a  thing  of  distaste  and 
repudiation;  the  doctrine  of  Sin  and  Depravity 
becomes  the  object  of  ridicule  and  scorn;  the  doc¬ 
trine  of  Repentance  becomes  unnecessary;  the 
doctrine  of  Regeneration  is  supplanted  by  Refor¬ 
mation,  Salvation  by  Education  and  Culture. 
Progression  stamps  out  sanctification.  The  doc¬ 
trine  of  the  Divine  about  Christ  must  be  “  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  best  scientific  and  philosophical  methods 


IF  I  LOSE  MY  FAITH 


145 


education  can  give  us  ...  to  use  the  language 
of  the  schools,  Christ  functions  in  our  life  as 
God.  .  .  .  His  cross  is  the  summary  of  God’s 
method  in  social  evolution,  in  the  progress  of  jus¬ 
tice,  in  the  hope  of  human  betterment.”  (Shailer 
Matthews. ) 

In  short,  to  lose  my  faith  is  to  take  my  soul  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  Divine  Christ,  wrest  it  from 
the  faith  once  delivered  unto  the  saints,  and  com¬ 
mit  it  into  the  hands  of  higher  critics  and  wander 
on  in  doubt  and  dismay  and  darkness  here,  and 
finally  make  my  bed  in  hell. 

8.  If  I  lose  my  faith  I  have  no  gospel  to  preach. 
Paul  declared  the  gospel  to  be  the  “  power  of  God 
unto  salvation  to  every  one  that  believeth.”  If  I 
lose  faith  in  the  old  gospel  I  have  nothing  to  preach 
but  human  opinions,  questionable  philosophy,  and 
the  uncertain  findings  of  the  critics.  The  pulpit 
becomes  no  longer  a  theme  of  power,  but  a  reading 
desk;  the  prophet  is  silent  and  the  guesser  takes 
his  place.  The  herald  of  a  great  salvation  becomes 
a  harker  of  second-hand  clothes  worn  by  Kant, 
Ritschl,  Welhausen,  Strauss,  Renan,  etc. 

Finally,  if  I  lose  my  faith  I  lose  the  Preaching 
Passion.  A  higher  critic  in  the  pulpit  knows 
nothing  of  the  fire  of  the  Ploly  Ghost;  a  minister 
of  doubting  skeptical  turn  of  mind  never  preaches 
with  passion;  unbelief  and  doubt  put  out  the  fires 
of  the  soul.  “  We  are  living,”  says  a  recent 
writer,  “  in  an  age  which  robs  religion  of  its  in- 


146 


IF  I  LOSE  MY  FAITH 


flammatory  touch.  We  have  enthroned  the  intel¬ 
lect  and  dethroned  passion.  It  is  an  inexcusable 
thing  for  a  herald  of  God  to  lack  earnestness  .  .  . 
only  the  bleeding  heart  can  bless.” 


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